EU farmers must comply with strict production standards, and so should third-country producers if they want to export to the EU, according to the latest vote by Parliament's Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI).

On Thursday (12 September), ENVI members rejected the European Commission's proposal to lower the maximum residue levels for certain pesticides and fungicides in imported food. The committee turned down the draft because these agricultural chemicals are not authorised within the EU, and, as such, imported products containing their residues should also be prohibited from entering the EU market. Does this approach signal the start of a new, more protectionist agricultural policy?