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A comparison of the EU and US regulatory frameworks for the active substance registration of microbial biological control agents
Author(s) -
Frederiks Coen,
Wesseler Justus HH
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
pest management science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.296
H-Index - 125
eISSN - 1526-4998
pISSN - 1526-498X
DOI - 10.1002/ps.5133
Subject(s) - european union , flexibility (engineering) , business , member states , pest control , member state , international trade , biology , economics , ecology , management
Background Microbial biological control agents (MBCA) are biopesticides based on living microbes. They have huge potential for the control of pests and diseases, but have trouble reaching the European Union (EU) market. According to several authors, this is caused by the regulatory regime, which is less supportive compared with that in the USA. The main objective of this paper is to present regulatory differences between the USA and the EU, and the resulting effects and developments of registration in both regions. Results Results show that EU registration is more complex due to differences between EU‐ and Member State (MS)‐level processes, large actor heterogeneity and low flexibility. As a result, EU registration takes, on average, ∼ 1.6 years longer than US registration. Regulatory amendments have improved EU‐level processes and led to a significant contraction of procedural time spans, but processes at the MS level have not improved and have become a larger procedural obstacle. Conclusion The results correspond with the idea that EU registration is complex and lengthy compared with that in the USA. To improve regulation, national‐level processes should be targeted for amendment. To that end, the authors suggest various ways of expanding the registration capacity of MS. © 2018 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.