Approval for the fungicide active substance dimethomorph will expire in Great Britain on 30 November 2026, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed, after a scientific review concluded that it meets the criteria for an endocrine disruptor in humans and is toxic for reproduction.
HSE first proposed the withdrawal in a bulletin of 31 July, saying new scientific information meant dimethomorph might no longer meet the approval criteria of assimilated Regulation (EC) 1107/2009, the retained EU law that governs pesticide active substances after Brexit. The review found it could disrupt the oestrogen, androgen and steroidogenesis pathways and placed it in reproductive toxicity category 1B, used for substances presumed to impair human fertility.
The proposal then went to the World Trade Organization for the usual consultation with trading partners. In its 2 November bulletin HSE said that consultation had ended and that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had consented.
The exit is phased. Holders of product authorisations may sell and distribute existing stock until 31 May 2027, and farmers and other users then have a further 12 months to use what they have bought, so dimethomorph products can be applied legally in Great Britain until 31 May 2028.
HSE's bulletins do not name the brands or authorisation holders affected, or the crops that will feel it most. Dimethomorph is a morpholine fungicide used against oomycete diseases such as downy mildew and potato late blight, often sprayed as a protectant together with mancozeb on potatoes, onions and lettuce, so growers of those crops will be looking for other ways to manage those diseases.
HSE also noted that pesticides remain within the scope of the continuing UK-EU talks on a sanitary and phytosanitary agreement, which leaves some uncertainty over how British rules will line up with the EU's in future.
Photo: Björn Andersson (SLU) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Global Agriculture
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