Abstract
The potential of biological control is not well exploited in Europe. One reason is the stringent regulation policy for biological control agents (BCAs), which, to a large degree, follow rules implemented for registration of synthetic chemical pesticides. Regulation of BCAs is expensive and time-consuming often surpassing 8 years. Knowledge on safety is limited often resulting in exaggerated registration requirements. The REBECA Action made several proposals how to overcome these problems. Details are reported for innovative procedures on the regulation of microbial BCAs and general proposals are discussed how regulation can be accelerated using more balanced and adapted procedures.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks are due to the European Commission for financial support of the REBECA Action and to all colleagues, who contributed to the success of the action, in particular, Anita Fjelsted, Rüdiger Hauschild, Hermann Strasser, Olaf Strauch, Bernhard Speiser and Ulf Heilig.
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Ehlers, RU. (2010). REBECA – EU-Policy Support Action to Review Regulation of Biological Control Agents. In: Gisi, U., Chet, I., Gullino, M. (eds) Recent Developments in Management of Plant Diseases. Plant Pathology in the 21st Century, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8804-9_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8804-9_12
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