Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe responds to the European Commission’s roadmap for defining EDC criteria in the context of the implementation of the Plant Protect Regulation and Biocidal Products Regulation published on Wednesday 18th June.

The European Commission has released its roadmap for defining criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) within the EU plant protection product and biocidal product regulations. While HCWH Europe welcomes action from the Commission, we do not support the proposal of policy options that would incorporate socioeconomic factors and risk-benefit analysis into sectorial legislation.

The Commission’s policy option proposals shift the focus from health and environmental protection to economic considerations, in clear contravention to the hazard based approach to EDCs established in the pesticides and biocides legislation. 

HCWH Europe stresses that EDCs are an urgent concern.  The EDCs definition criteria and regulatory approach should be aligned with the Lisbon Treaty objectives of ensuring a high level of protection to human health and the environment.

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