The control of the import, marketing and use of biological control agents and pollinators is regulated in the Plant Health Act and the responsibility for their control rests with Finnish Food Authority.
Microbial products used for plant protection purposes (viruses, fungi, bacteria) are included within the scope of the Pesticide Act and the responsibility for their control rests with the Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency Tukes.
The introduction of a non-native species into the wild in Finland is prohibited under the Invasive Alien Species Act, if there is cause to suspect that it may become established permanently. This is taken into consideration in the risk assessment of macro-organisms.
As far as animal diseases are concerned, honey bee and bumble bee husbandry, import and trade in the internal market fall under the purview of the Decree issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and Finnish Food Authority is in charge of the related register.
National legislation
National legislation on biological control agents and pollinators can be found on the Finlex website (only in Finnish or Swedish):
-
Phytosanitary act 29.11.2019/1110
- Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on the marketing, use and import of macro-organisms used in biological control and pollination 1300/2019
- Law on the management of risks caused by alien species 1709/2015
- Decree of the Government on the management of risks caused by alien species 704/2019
International legislation
No harmonised legislation has been adopted in EU regarding the safe use of organisms for biological control and pollination. Nor have Member States passed any actual specific legislation on biological control agents; instead, the matter is often resolved through the combined effect of two laws.
International standards and conventions:
In the absence of common legislation, the safe use of macro-organisms can be ensured through compliance with the standards published by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). EPPO's standard PM 6/3 lists species that have been widely used in the EPPO region without any adverse effects. The standards are available on EPPO's web site in English. The notifications and approval applications required in Finland are based on EPPO's standard 6/2.
There is no corresponding list of pollinators, but in Finland the assessment of pollinators follows the process applied to control agents.
- EPPO PM 6/1: First import of exotic biological control agents for research under contained conditions
- EPPO PM 6/2: Import and release of non-indigenous biological control agents
- EPPO PM 6/3: List of biological control agents safely used in the EPPO region
- EPPO PM 6/4: Decision‐support scheme for import and release of biological control agents of plant pests
The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) pertain to biological control agents. EPPO executes for its part in its own standards the IPPC standard on biological control agents.
- IPPC ISPM3