THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC, and in particular Article 24 in conjunction with Article 20(1) thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Directive 2009/37/EC included copper compounds as active substances in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC.
(2)
Active substances included in Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC are deemed to have been approved under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and are listed in Part A of the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011.
(3)
The approval of the active substances copper compounds, as set out in Part A of the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011, expires on 31 January 2019.
(4)
An application for the renewal of the approval of copper compounds was submitted in accordance with Article 1 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012 within the time period provided for in that Article.
(5)
The applicant submitted the supplementary dossiers required in accordance with Article 6 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012. The application was found to be complete by the rapporteur Member State.
(6)
The rapporteur Member State prepared a renewal assessment report in consultation with the co-rapporteur Member State and submitted it to the European Food Safety Authority (‘the Authority’) and the Commission on 16 December 2016.
(7)
The Authority communicated the renewal assessment report to the applicant and to the Member States for comments and forwarded the comments received to the Commission. The Authority also made the supplementary summary dossier available to the public.
(8)
On 20 December 2017 the Authority communicated to the Commission its conclusions on whether copper compounds can be expected to meet the approval criteria provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. The Commission presented the draft renewal report for copper compounds to the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed on 25 May 2018.
(9)
The applicant was given the opportunity to submit comments on the draft renewal report.
(10)
It has been established with respect to one or more representative uses of at least one product for each of the copper compounds that the approval criteria provided for in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 are satisfied. It is therefore appropriate to renew the approval of copper compounds.
(11)
The risk assessment for the renewal of the approval of copper compounds is based on a limited number of representative uses, which however do not restrict the uses for which plant protection products containing copper compounds may be authorised. It is therefore appropriate to remove the restriction for use only as fungicide and bactericide.
(12)
The Commission, however, considers that copper compounds are candidates for substitution pursuant to Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. Copper compounds are persistent and toxic substances in accordance with points 3.7.2.1 and 3.7.2.3, respectively, of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, given that the half-life in soil is greater than 120 days and the long-term no-observed effect concentration for aquatic organisms is less than 0,01 mg/L. Copper compounds therefore fulfil the condition set in the second indent of point 4 of Annex II to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.
(13)
It is therefore appropriate to renew the approval of copper compounds as candidates for substitution pursuant to Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.
(14)
In accordance with Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 in conjunction with Article 6 thereof, and, in the light of current scientific and technical knowledge, it is, however, necessary to include certain conditions and restrictions.
(15)
It is, in particular, appropriate to restrict the use of plant protection products containing copper compounds to a maximum application rate of 28 kg/ha of copper over a period of 7 years (i.e. on average 4 kg/ha/year) in order to minimise the potential accumulation in soil and the exposure for not target organisms, while taking into account agro-climatic conditions occurring periodically in Member States leading to an increase of the fungal pressure. When authorising products Member States should pay attention to certain issues and strive for the minimisation of application rates.
(16)
It is also appropriate to limit the maximum content of certain impurities of toxicological concern.
(17)
The Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(18)
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/84 extended the approval period of copper compounds to 31 January 2019 in order to allow the renewal process to be completed before the expiry of the approval of these substances. However, given that a decision on renewal has been taken ahead of this extended expiry date, this Regulation should apply from 1 January 2019.
(19)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: