Report from the Sub-committee on Agriculture

1. Introduction

1.1 Mandate for the Sub-committee on Agriculture

On 15 May 1997 the Folketing (the Danish Parliament) unanimously passed a parliamentary resolution urging the government to appoint a committee with independent expertise to analyse all the consequences of totally or partially phasing out the use of pesticides in agriculture and to examine alternative methods of preventing and controlling plant diseases, pests and weeds.

The committee was to assess the consequences for production, the economy, legislation, health and the environment, and employment.

The results of the committee work were to be used in the coming work on a new pesticide action plan.

In the mandate of 4 July 1997, the Minister of Environment and Energy stipulated that a main committee be appointed with expert members from research, the agricultural industries, the "green" organisations, consumer organisations, the food and agrochemical industries, the trade unions and relevant ministries. Its members were to cover the specialist areas of agriculture, economics, legislation, employment, health, the environment and ecology.

In addition, four sub-committees were appointed. Their task would be to facilitate the main committee's final reporting by drafting specialist background reports.

The main committee had the task of coordinating and discussing the sub-committees' work and of preparing the final report for the Minister.

The sub-committees were to cover the following areas:

1. agriculture
2. production, economics and employment
3. environment and health
4. legislation

As points of reference for their work, the sub-committees were to use both the optimum production from the standpoint of production economy and the production achieved by the agricultural industries to date. They were to assess the consequences for production, the economy, legislation, health, employment and the environment.

In their work, the sub-committees were to evaluate scenarios for total and partial phasing out of pesticides and examine the consequences of restructuring for organic farming, taking into account activities already in progress concerning such restructuring.

An analysis of restructuring for organic farming is given in a separate report in which factors relating to cultivation are discussed, together with economic, employment and environmental factors.

1.1 Mandate for the Sub-committee on Agriculture

According to the mandate for the Sub-committee on Agriculture, the sub-committee was to:

	illuminate alternative, non-chemical methods of controlling plant diseases, pests and weeds
	propose cultivation systems for agriculture under a total or partial phase-out of pesticides
	evaluate the consequences of restructuring for organic farming
	consider the possibilities of maintaining production of cattle and pigs
	make the greatest possible use of experience from existing organic production in agriculture
	identify any areas in which a phase-out would give rise to particular problems
	propose solutions to those problems – e.g. through research and development.

It was also stated that the proposed cultivation systems were to form the basis for the work of both the Sub-committee on Production, Economics and Employment and the Sub-committee.