Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting 23-25 October 2023
Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting 23-25 October 2023
Catherine Al-Haddad and Evangelia Chatzaki from Kerona Scientific attended the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting (ABIM) on the 23rd to 25th of October 2023 in Basel, Switzerland. Exhibitors and speakers from all over the world were present, representing both industry and the regulatory bodies. This provides an excellent opportunity for delegates to network and stay up to date with the latest updates around biocontrol. ABIM is organised by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and IBMA (International Biocontrol Manufacturers Association). At this year’s meeting an election was held for IBMA Vice-President. Alessandra Moccia, Senior Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Suterra Europe Biocontrol, was elected to this position. Kerona would like to take this chance to congratulate Alessandra and wish her all the best with her new duties in this position.
One of the highlights of the event was the focused workshops, designed to deepen the discussion on a wide range of matters relating to the biocontrol industry and an opportunity for delegates to express their views, questions, and often challenges in certain areas. These workshops were so popular that they were already fully booked early on before the commencement of the event.
A very interesting workshop was focused on Registration Best Practice, where one of the speakers was Anne Steenbergh from the Dutch board for the authorisation of plant protection products and biocides (Ctgb). In her presentation she talked about the ‘Sustainability Desk’ for non-chemical PPP authorisations (in Dutch ‘verduurzamingsloket’) which is a proposed new policy from Ctgb. The plan is to enable applications that meet certain criteria to be processed more quickly for products that contribute to resilient and sustainable crop cultivation in the Netherlands. Two of the proposed criteria are the following: the PPP authorisation application should include at least one new use in The Netherlands and all active substances should be either low risk, living organisms, pheromones, or other non-chemical PPP excluding those with broad spectrum toxicity. The ‘Sustainability Desk’ initiative will come into force on as of January 1, 2024, in the form of a policy rule. Consultation with the public regarding this policy is still open until the November 22, 2023, and more information can be found on the Ctgb website. www.ctgb.nl
Anne also focused on low-risk products and how certain procedures have been designed to simplify the inclusion of more uses on their labels in The Netherlands. First, she talked about the extension of authorisation for minor uses for low-risk products (NLKUG) and how Article 51 of Regulation (EC) No.1107/2009 has been interpreted to facilitate the availability of PPP for minor uses in the country. Depending on certain product characteristics, the extension of authorisation could potentially be achieved through an administrative procedure, or a partial assessment. Lastly, she explained that low-risk PPP labels could be extended to include major uses through procedures normally used for minor uses. Detailed information about all the procedures related to low risk products in the Netherlands and the important definitions and requirements for each case, can be found on the Ctgb website.
If you need regulatory support with EU authorisation of biopesticides please contact the experts in Kerona Scientific at info@kerona.ie