Pesticide firms: 'we have nothing to hide'

European pesticide manufacturers have pledged to prove better public access to product safety data, in response to a "clear demand from society" to provide greater transparency.

"This was an obvious step. We want consumers and politicians to see that we have nothing to hide,” said Jean-Philippe Azoulay, director general of the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), on Monday.

The lobby group's move is part of a wider undertaking by the global trade body CropLife International, and comes as a European Parliament special committee begins an investigation into the process by which pesticides are approved for use in the EU.