EU pesticide regulation threatens British wine

The UK’s wine-making industry is under threat as proposed EU legislation to restrict the use of pesticides will hamper competition and could wipe out crops.

Because the UK has a damp and humid climate, vineyards need to use sprays that protect crops. This is a less common problem in Europe - although some of the crops in the south of France were wiped out after they unexpectedly got downy mildew at the beginning of the season.

Without protection grape skins could be damaged, which could either wipe out the crops or ruin their quality, said Sam Linter chief winemaker and director at Bookers Vineyard in Sussex.

“Without certain pesticides there will not be enough protection, leading to crop shortages and consequently foods produced in Europe will become much more expensive,” she said.

“We try to be as organic as possible and the only pesticides we use are safe. But pesticide use is an area that has caused a lot of concern in the past.”

There has been an ongoing review of pesticide use in farming since 1998 and, as a result, a significant amount of chemicals are no longer permitted. Linter said that because the UK’s wine industry was very small, it was already very difficult to get label approval, even on common pesticides that were used in Europe.

“There are already a very limited number of chemicals that we are allowed to use in the UK and it is becoming increasingly harder to be granted approval,” she added. “It is a very costly process, which automatically puts the UK’s wine industry at a disadvantage.”

“Countries outside Europe will also be able to make wine a lot more cheaply, as their farming regulations are not as stringent as ours.”

The warning came shortly after food trade associations called for an EU-wide economic impact assessment of the EU pesticide proposals before they make any further progress through the European Parliament.