Key facts
- EU regulatory processes are delaying the registration of agricultural innovation products.
- Martin Voss stated that the EU has become a difficult and expensive place for agricultural innovation registration.
- Voss noted that innovation can be launched faster in other regions with rigorous but more efficient regulatory processes.
- Geopolitical factors, such as the destruction of fertilizer plants, are compounding difficulties.
- Soil degradation affects 75% of managed land, according to the WHO.
Martin Voss, chief innovation officer at Oath Group, stated that the European Union's regulatory processes for agricultural innovation are causing delays and increasing costs, putting farmers "on the back foot." Speaking at the Forum for the Future of Agriculture event hosted by the European Landowners Organisation (ELO) in Dublin, Voss explained that over the past decade, the EU has become the most difficult and expensive region to register agricultural innovations, whether chemical or biological. He contrasted this with other regions where regulatory processes, while rigorous, are more efficient and faster, allowing innovation to reach the market more quickly. Voss emphasized that faster market entry for innovation would benefit EU growers and the food system. He also highlighted that geopolitical issues, such as the destruction of fertilizer plants in the Middle East which will take years to rebuild, and ongoing soil degradation affecting 75% of managed land, are compounding these challenges. Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Cowen delivered closing remarks, calling for improved food security and farmer support in Europe.