Environmental Monitoring of Pesticides Post-EU Exit

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Defra Network eTendering Portal awarded a contract to Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for a project to review accepted approaches to measuring the impacts and risks of pesticide use and the funding of monitoring for those impacts.

The project addressed the heavy reliance on cross-EU mechanisms for approval of active substances in plant protection products and the need for a clear vision for authorising products to meet UK agriculture's needs without unacceptable environmental impacts.

It examined the current focus on quantifying environmental risks at the point of approval versus the limited systematic understanding of impacts post-authorisation, noting that surveillance programmes such as the Wildlife Incident Investigation Scheme and the Predatory Birds Monitoring Scheme provide some data but no systematic long-term monitoring exists for pesticide residues in wildlife or the terrestrial environment.

The contract value was AUD 44,280.71.