Action 11: Incorporation of the Project’s deliverables into national environmental policy and legislation, and in national standards of crop management and the National Organization of Agricultural Production Action 11 was a continuous Action aiming at submitting specific proposals to national bodies of policy making, based on the evaluated results and conclusions that have come from the Project’s implementation. To this end, since the beginning of the project, the EcoPest team had been actively communicating via official correspondence, in order to achieve direct and effective cooperation with national bodies such as: - The Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development & Food (MRDF)
- The Organization of Certification & Inspection of Agricultural Products (Agrocert)
- The Hellenic Crop Protection Association (HCPA, which belongs to the private sector)
Through these channels of communication, it managed to create a common arena for the development and application of the Project’s goals. Within this context, both the senior management of the MRDF, and the HCPA repeatedly expressed a particular interest in the utilization of EcoPest’s proposals in the development of the National Action Plan. Furthermore 4 scientist from the project co-coordinator (BPI) were assigned as members of the National Action Plan Committee by MRDF.
The Project also provided a framework for especially fruitful co-operation with the HCPA-Industry.
Following on from this, the Project Coordinator submitted proposals to the responsible authorities (MRDF, and the Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change) regarding the application of the 2009/128/EC Directive. These proposals were documented in and extracted from the deliverables, but also informed by the broader experience gained from the Project. Specifically, the Project Coordinator submitted proposals to be considered as part of the national environmental policy and legislation, focusing on the priorities for the National Action Plan for the application of the certification system for users of agricultural chemicals and spraying machinery. The Coordinator of the Project also sent to the Hellenic Ministry of Agriculture, Development and Food a package of the Low-Input Crop Management Protocols (LCMs) and the Plant Protection Guide produced by the Project and the all the educational material produced including a manual for the safe use of pesticides.
On the basis of the above, Action 11 is was completed satisfactorily, getting its expected results according to the schedule of its implementation.
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