In 2023, some 30 previously banned substances were exceptionally authorised by federal authorities, as a means of tackling growing menaces to agricultural crops.

Thierry Blaser observes the same thing every year when walking through his rapeseed field. “Insect pests sting the rape and lay their larvae. The plant then gets deformed and can no longer produce as it should,” the farmer told RTS public radio on Tuesday.

To kill the insects and produce his 15 tonnes of rapeseed, there was only one solution for Blaser: protection products. The problem is that the number of authorised substances is constantly decreasing. Since 2005, 208 products have been withdrawn from the market.