EU renews phosphine pesticide approval until 2041 with strict fumigation rules

The European Commission has renewed the approval of the active substance phosphine, a fumigant pesticide, until 30 September 2041, despite identifying a potential genotoxicity risk, and has imposed strict conditions to confine its use to gas-tight chambers. The decision is contained in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1968 of 7 September 2026, published in the L series of the Official Journal of the European Union on 8 September 2026, and amends Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011.

The regulation, adopted under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 on the placing of plant protection products on the market, renews the approval of phosphine (also known as phosphane, CAS No 7803-51-2, CIPAC No 127, purity 970 g/kg) from 1 October 2026. The previous approval, granted by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1043/2012, was due to expire on 15 March 2027 and had been extended by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/2316 to allow the renewal process to be completed.

A renewal despite a genotoxicity concern

The renewal application was submitted to Spain, the rapporteur Member State, and Germany, the co-rapporteur Member State, under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 844/2012. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) communicated its conclusion on 10 December 2024, identifying a critical area of concern over the potential genotoxicity (clastogenicity) of phosphine.

The Commission concluded that this concern does not preclude renewal, because the implementation of risk mitigation measures eliminates exposure of humans, animals and the environment to the substance. The draft regulation was presented to the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed on 10 December 2025 and 5 May 2026.

Strict conditions of use

Because phosphine is applied by fumigation, the regulation confines its use to gas-tight chambers or rooms where gas tightness is verified and the substance is supplied from outside, so operators never come into contact with it. Member States authorising products containing phosphine must impose a series of conditions:

• application only by well-trained, authorised personnel holding certificates of competence and fumigation licences under national law;
• a safety zone from which all persons are evacuated, monitored with certified detection devices so that a concentration of 0.01 ppm of PH3 in the air at the border is not exceeded;
• a ban on entering treated chambers, except in emergencies with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA);
• removal of remaining phosphine after fumigation using special filter technology so that none is emitted into the environment;
• removal of treated products only after ventilation, when residue concentrations are at or below the limit of quantification (LOQ);
• a ban on transporting treated containers until fumigation is fully complete.

Confirmatory data required

To increase confidence that phosphine is unlikely to cause genotoxic effects under relevant conditions of use, the applicant must submit confirmatory information to the Commission, the Member States and EFSA by 28 September 2028. This may consist of evidence that in vivo genotoxicity testing is not appropriate, or, failing that, a new in vivo Micronucleus test by inhalation following short-term exposure according to OECD Test Guideline 474.

The regulation, signed in Brussels by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, entered into force on the twentieth day after publication and applies from 1 October 2026. It is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, and carries EEA relevance.

For farmers and the crop-protection industry across the EU, the renewal secures continued access to a key fumigant for stored products and commodities, but ties that access to tightly controlled, professionally supervised fumigation operations designed to keep the substance out of the environment.

Source: Official Journal of the European Union, L series, 8.9.2026, p. 1 (official reference: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1968, CELEX L_202601968).