The mission of the agriculture of 21st century is to feed an increasing population by using sustainable farming methods. 

According to the time-honoured expression, it is a question of achieving this goal so as to equitably meet developmental 

and environmental needs of present and future generations.

The responsibility of stakeholders is to ponder over the consistency of using plant protection products (PPP),Veterinary medicine and other inputs with an agriculture that first and foremost is respectful of health and the environment.

It would be absurd to claim that this compatibility could not depend on their conditions of use. Agricultural practices constitute however only one of the aspects of sustainable use of PPP, what’s more, in the same way as the latter is only one of the aspects of the sustainability of all human activities. 

The nature and usage of PPP affect ecosystems in numerous ways. The rules which govern them and their implementation determine, also, the relative harmlessness or the toxicity of their presence in our environment.

The users and distributors of plant protection products PPP, veterinary medecines and other inputs have become aware that there existed dysfunctionalities working to the detriment of their pertinent use as well as of the market.

These dysfunctionalities would have at their root considerations of a legal, administrative and commercial nature.

On a legal and administrative level, national legislation and regulations are reluctant to adopt the whole range of Community provisions relating to the free movement of goods and products in the area of plant health.

On a commercial level, it appears that manufacturers are fencing off national  markets from the rest of the European Union, and are implementing a strategy of selective distribution which in particular has the consequence of eliminating all free competition and thus harming users who in the main are farmers.

Furthermore, since plant health products require strict standards as regards their use and distribution, the players concerned have taken the decision to supervise their correct use and the proper conditions for their marketing, with the result that monitoring of this kind is even more beneficial to human health and the environment.

The magnitude of the resources devoted by the industry and the competent Community and national authorities to the field of risk evaluation and management, in comparison to the widely dispersed population of users of PPPs, leaves no doubt as to the origin of potential failures of any strategy aimed at the concept of sustainability.

For these reasons, the users and distributors of agrochemicals have taken the free decision to unite within an association created in application of the law of 1 July 1901, with the following principal aims:

q       The setting up of occasional information and documentation services on existing and future standards relating to employment and the distribution of plant health products;

q       The protection and representation of the interests of its honorary and active members within the limits and conditions laid down by the applicable laws;

q       The deployment of suitable resources to monitor the correct implementation of standards and regulations, compliance with the law and respect of freedom of trade.

The problem of the sustainable use of PPPs would, perhaps, benefit from being widened and tackled on the basis of a more substantial principle of “good”. From this point of view, it is not so important to analyse compliance with the standards in each particular case, but rather to evaluate the overall direction and general orientation of all the activities involved in food production and in the use of PPPs. What sorts of agricultural food production do the regulations encourage? What trends, what types of behaviour are they inclined to develop? And, finally, does the structure of the regulations, their current implementation and the weight of the agrochemical industry’s communication make our agriculture a sustainable agriculture? 

In particular, the Association has the aim of

q       To constitute a place of reflection relating to the pertinent use of plant protection products, to identify the respective responsibilities of each of the stakeholders and to inform them about it, to contribute to rationalize the uses and the behaviors.

q       To allow for users and distributors to contribute to the elaboration of coherent and clear regulations that are readily accessible and  understood by everyone.

q       To alert stakeholders and first of all the competent authorities to any dysfunctions as for the regulations pertaining to market access, to marketing or to use.

q       Within the limits its own capacity for observation and analysis, to watch over the impact of PPPs on health and the environment with the aim to promote sustainable agriculture.

q       In the same perspective of a sustainable and equitable agriculture, it will focus its interest on any area of practice or regulation relevant to agriculture when these seem to it to compromise this objective.

q       representing and protecting the personal and collective interests of its members, whether users, agricultural producers or distributors, in the field of plant health, seeds, fertilizers as well as veterinary medicine and of setting up amongst them specific services as the need arises, including in the field of legal disputes, within the limits and conditions set out in the applicable laws and regulations.

Association of Users and Distributors of AgroChemicals in Europe

ZA de Largenté,  F-32490 MOFERRAN  – France

téléphone: +33 (0)2 54 96 88 13 2 fac-similé: (0)2 54 88 41 84 : email: sdd@audace-ass.com

After the 1st March 2000  General Assembly

President :  Daniel Roques

Vice-President :     Nicolas JAQUET  (since the 7th March 2007)

                                  John Pember (2000 - 2007† )

Secretary general :  Stéphane Delautre-Drouillon

Treasurer :  Philippe Arnaud

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