ECCA Urges Simplified, Fairer Rules for Post-Patent Crop Protection in Europe
27 October 2025 The European Crop Care Association (ECCA) has submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on the Food and Feed Safety Simplification Omnibus, focusing on the functioning of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and its impact on post-patent plant protection products (PPPs).
Post-patent PPPs represent 76.4% of the EU plant protection market – and more than 90%, if proprietary off-patents are included. On average, 10 years after a post-patent product enters the market, the price of equivalent products decreases by around 50%. This ensures affordability and competition for European agriculture, while maintaining safety and efficacy.
Our submission highlights the need for predictable and harmonized data protection rules to ensure fair competition and faster market access across EU Member States. It also calls for improved transparency and access to information by making assessment reports (dRR/RR) publicly available after authorization.
Furthermore, we [ECCA] emphasize the importance of a more effective mutual recognition system to guarantee fair and equal availability of plant protection tools for farmers across the EU. Moreover, we propose simplified and fit-for-purpose renewal and authorization procedures to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens and support innovation.
Finally, we stress the need to consider socio-economic impacts in regulatory decisions in order to preserve European food security and crop diversity.
ECCA remains committed to engaging constructively with the European Commission (DG SANTE, DG AGRI), EU Member States and the European Parliament to ensure that the upcoming legislative proposal delivers a more efficient, science-based and competitive regulatory framework for European farmers.
Quick Look on Role of Post-Patent PPPs in Europe
- The competitiveness of European agriculture. Simplified and fit-for-purpose renewal and authorisation procedures – resulting from an amended Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 – would steer European agriculture in line with the European Commission’s Competitive Compass. To be globally competitive, farmers today need a simple and time-efficient regulatory framework and affordable and effective plant protection tools – ensuring that farmers have the necessary conditions to compete with farmers around the world. Crucially, these conditions can be provided by fair and equal access to post-patent plant protection products.
- Europe’s resilience against external challenges. The benefits of a more competitive European agricultural landscape, resulting from access to post-patent PPPs, spill over into many of the European Union’s strategic objectives. In the context of “strategic autonomy”, greater cost efficiency – coupled with better conditions for domestic food production – strengthens European resilience against external threats like trade disputes or geopolitical instability.
- Generational renewal. Today, only around 12% of European farmers are under the age of 40 — a figure that has been declining for decades. By unlocking fair and equal access to post-patent plant PPPs, Europe has a strategic opportunity to address the fast-decreasing number of young farmers – a trend that poses increasing challenges to Europe’s long-term food security. Access to affordable and effective plant protection solutions strengthens farmers’ cost-efficiency and business stability, which, from a long-term perspective, may encourage more young people to consider a career in agriculture.
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