In 1993 the European Commission began a review programme for all active substances used in plant protection products in the EU. Since its establishment, EFSA has played a major role in the process and has assessed, since 2003, the safety of over 120 active substances. As foreseen in the context of Council Directive 91/414/EEC, EFSA’s role in co-ordinating the peer review of risk assessment of active substances used in pesticides will now continue. This work is conducted in close collaboration with scientific experts from the Member States and with the aim of protecting human health and the environment in Europe[2].

EFSA’s Pesticide Risk Assessment Peer Review Unit (PRAPeR) and the Member States together made significant efforts to meet the challenging deadlines of the review programme, resulting in a threefold increase in the number of conclusions on active substances delivered in 2008 in comparison to the previous year.

EFSA is also the independent risk assessment body responsible within the EU for assessing Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) of pesticides, which are the upper legal levels of residues in or on food or feed. In the period 2006-2008, the PRAPeR Unit has already carried out the review of 280 active substances to assist the Commission in setting some 74,000 MRLs, and the finalisation of the review programme now triggers a full review programme on MRLs established at EU level for 350 active substances in the next couple of years.

In September 2008, EFSA set up a new Pesticide Steering Committee, which is made up of representatives from EFSA, the European Commission and Member States. It was established with a specific responsibility to manage and plan the overall pesticide risk assessment and MRL programmes, and in particular to consider ways to further streamline the process in the face of an ever-growing workload and evolving regulatory environment.