Memorandum submitted by BASF (Z30)
1. BASF INVOLVEMENT
IN PESTICIDES
BASF is the largest chemical manufacturer in
the world with a portfolio which includes agricultural products,
plastics, fine chemicals, nutritional products, and performance
products for the automotive and construction industry. BASF also
supplies crude oil and natural gas. In 2003 BASF had sales of
approximately 33 billion euros worldwide with approximately 87,000
employees.
Within the UK, the Agricultural Products Division
employs 77 people with a head office at Cheadle in Cheshire. BASF
is the current market leader in UK crop protection providing a
range of well established, innovative products and services for
use by farmers and their suppliers to increase crop yields and
quality.
BASF is a strong partner to the whole farming,
feed, food and amenity sectors, including public health and rural/urban
pest control. Our business ethos is one of "Sustainable Development".
2. WHY A
TAX WOULD
NOT PRODUCE
THE DESIRED
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
A levy per se offers little incentive
to either the user or the on-farm adviser (to whom the farmer
looks for guidance) to improve standards of operation. Merely
reducing the volume of pesticides used is no guarantor of improved
environmental benefits as even small quantities can be used irresponsibly.
BASF believes it will prove more beneficial in the long run to
raise the awareness of users and advisers into seeing the benefits
of improving standards of operation, something which the Voluntary
Initiative (VI) has been very successful in doing.
The Danish tax system is sometimes quoted as
being successful because pesticide usage declined after its introduction.
However, this initial drop in volumes of pesticide recorded under
this scheme was attributable to the coincidental introduction
of new products which offered higher effectiveness at significantly
lower dosages relative to the older previously used products.
We can find no compelling evidence that this switch was due just
to the tax; this process is just the normal way any market operates
irrespective of tax. An example from the UK is control of cereal
powdery mildew.
In the 1960s the recommended treatment was 10kg
per hectare of sulphur; this was replaced in the 1970s by 750g
of fenpropimorph; the introduction of metrafenone from BASF last
year means effective control can now be achieved with just 150g
per hectare. This volume reduction has been achieved because of
the substantial R&D investment by BASF, the attractiveness
of the product to users, their desire to continually seek best
practice plus training and informing the users and their advisers.
This spirit of involvement and understanding is what the VI is
catalysing in the environmental area.
3. WHY THE
VI IS A
BETTER WAY
FORWARD
BASF believes that continuation of the principles
and schemes initiated under the VI will ensure a sustainable change
in farm practice which will in turn lead to a reduction in pesticide
emissions to the environment. The VI water catchment project has
shown that farmers want to be active in finding solutions, but
that they are often hampered due to lack of support.
Therefore the continuation of the VI with support
from regulators in the form of economic incentives is the best
way forward BASF believes.
There has been a substantial uptake of VI initiatives
into the various crop assurance schemes (eg NRoSO membership—National
Register of Spray Operators—is now a requirement for the
Assured Combinable Crop Scheme). This is therefore integrating
VI suggestions into the marketplace, ensuring their continued
adoption.
4. BENEFITS AND
COSTS TO
BASF OF VI SUPPORT
The activities and projects undertaken under
the VI umbrella fit well with BASF's principles of "Sustainable
Development".
As such the VI is compatible with our strategy.
In terms of costs BASF has taken a leading role
in many of the projects initiated under the VI banner and committed
considerable manpower resource to both these and others—a
conservative estimate for the past 12 months for BASF personnel
would be in the region of 300 man-days.
Additionally all staff with customer advisory
responsibility have undertaken the Biodiversity and Environmental
Training for Advisers (BETA) programme and we have established
our own Biodiversity project on a highly productive farm unit
in Yorkshire to demonstrate how efficient food production and
support for biodiversity can exist side by side. This site receives
many groups of visitors each year.
SUMMARY AND
CONCLUSIONS
BASF supports the VI approach as we believe
this is fundamentally raising awareness of environmental issues
which will deliver a sustainable change in on-farm practice.
Reductions in pesticide usage in isolation—through
taxation—will not necessarily deliver environmental benefits.
In any case, the market has seen substantial reduction in the
amounts of active ingredient needed to control various target
species—eg cereal mildew—through innovation without
taxation and this trend is likely to continue.
We have made a substantial commitment to help
to ensure the success of the Voluntary Initiative, the principles
of which are compatible with our own business approach.
8 October 2004
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