THE BICHEL COMMITTEE

4. The Committee's definition of the work and form of reporting

4.1 The Committee's report

The mandate only gave a broad outline of the tasks of the Committee, and the Main Committee has therefore undertaken a more detailed definition of the field of work.

Different scenarios have been studied for phasing out the use of pesticides in agriculture, market gardening, fruit growing and private forestry over a 10-year period. These scenarios give consideration to the consequences of partial and total phase-outs. In this context, the Main Committee specified three "intermediate scenarios", which were to be assessed by the sub-committees. The sub-committees were also free to study other scenarios of relevance to their work.

Several forms of operation were studied under farming, such as pure plant cultivation on clay and sand and cattle or pig farming. Field and greenhouse vegetables, pot plants and nurseries, etc., were considered under market gardening and fruit growing. The consequences of phasing out pesticides in established cultures and when rejuvenating or establishing forest cultures were analysed for private forestry, from the standpoints of the production of unprocessed wood, Christmas trees and ornamental greenery.

The Committee has not assessed the consequences of phasing out pesticides in the following areas: public areas (including state-owned forests), private gardens, transport corridors, uncultivated areas and for the care of natural areas. Neither has the Committee assessed the consequences for the Danish industries that manufacture pesticides.

The following assessments also assume that pesticides are only phased out in Denmark.

The Main Committee also requested the sub-committee on the environment and health to investigate whether or not it would be possible to identify the approved pesticides that have the most harmful effects on the environment.

Extending the work to include the organic scenario did not alter the mandate. A group was appointed, with representatives of all four sub-committees, to prepare a draft that described the method of analysing the organic scenario. This draft was presented to the Main Committee and the four sub-committees for discussion and approval.

The group was then assigned the task of initiating and implementing the work, including writing the final report. The group was linked to the expert environment under the Danish Research Center for Organic Farming (DARCOF).

4.1 The Committee's report

The Main Committee's report was drafted against the background of each of the four sub-committee's specialist reports on the consequences of phasing out pesticides, and of a joint background report on the organic scenario from all sub-committees. In addition, the Main Committee has included other material.

The Main Committee has only included a brief summary of the analyses in its report. The interested reader is therefore referred to the specialist background reports for more detailed information. The Main Committee has attached great significance to the sub-committee reports.

The report is laid out so that Chapter 5 reviews the present conditions relating to cultivation, economics, environmental and health effects and legislation. This forms the point of departure for the assessments of consequences. Chapter 6 describes the conditions of the analyses, whereas Chapter 7 offers an appraisal of the overall consequences. Chapter 8 presents the Committee's conclusions and recommendations.