Introduction
This page provides an outline of latest news concerning the development and implementation of the EU Thematic Strategy for Pesticides. The Strategy is comprised of four elements:
Authorisation Regulation and Sustainable Use Directive
The agreed Regulation to replace Directive 91/414/EEC was published by the EU on 24 November 2009 as Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC .
The agreed Sustainable Use Directive (2009/128/EC) was published at the same time as Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides.
Link to published version of Authorisation Regulation (pdf 1.22mb, 50 pages)
Link to published version of Sustainable Use Directive (pdf 806kb, 16 pages)
Summary of the Impacts of the Authorisation Regulation (pdf 244kb, 8 pages);
Information on our impact assessment can now be found under Further Information.
Implementation Programme
CRD established an implementation programme of ten projects to cover the whole package. Most have now completed their work and issued guidance on new arrangements in Regulatory Updates. Additional information on specific aspects is given below.
Frequently Asked Questions on the New Regulation (1107/2009), Sustainable Use Directive and Statistics Regulation
Consultations (in chronological order)
Consultation on the implementation of EU Pesticides legislation and Government Response (Initial formal consultation carried out between February and May 2010, Government response published 15 December 2010.)
Non-formal consultation on Plant Protection Products Regulations carried out between 1 March and 12 April 2011.
Consultation on the UK national action plan for the sustainable use of pesticides (plant protection products) carried out between 30 July and 22 October 2012, Government response published 26 February 2013. A further consultation, on a Statutory Instrument to transpose the Sustainable Use Directive, was initially planned but was not carried out. The Government believed that a further consultation would be of limited value and could potentially place an unnecessary additional burden on stakeholders, given the policy approach had already been decided.
Current Situation (in chronological order)
Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009
The following Regulations:
Plant Protection Products Regulations 2011; Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011; and
Plant Protection Products (Fees and Charges) Regulations 2011
took effect from 24 September 2011.
The Published Impact Assessment is also available on-line.
Sustainable Use Directive 2009/128/EC
The Sustainable Use Directive was transposed into UK law on 18 July 2012 by the
Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012.
The published Impact Assessment is also available on-line.
New arrangements for aerial spraying were introduced in June 2012.
The UK national action plan for the sustainable use of pesticides (plant protection products) was published on 26 February 2013.
The agreed Regulation was published by the EU on 10 December 2009 as Regulation 1185/2009/EC .
The key elements of this regulation are:
The way forward
This Regulation applied from 2011, and the relevant data will need to be supplied to the Commission within 12 months.
Frequently Asked Questions on the New Regulation (1107/2009), Sustainable Use Directive and Statistics Regulation
Current Progress - January 2012
The Pesticide Usage Surveys (PUS) (as of April 2011) are being carried out by a consortium of the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) and GFK Kynetec. Currently, they are collecting survey data on outdoor vegetables and edible protected crops. The survey results will continue to be published on the PUS STATS Website hosted by Fera.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is collecting the required sales data on our behalf. Following the pilot survey carried out in 2011 collecting the 2010 data as part of their PRODucts of the European COMmunity (PRODCOM) survey, it has been decided that the British Crop Production Council (BCPC) will use their contacts with the Plant Protection Product industry to provide ONS with the raw data for this survey. We expect this to provide a higher response rate that is more targeted to those who can provide the necessary information. The first sales report is due to be provided to Eurostat by the beginning of 2013.
The agreed Directive to amend Directive 2006/42/EC was published by the EU on 25 November 2009 as Directive 2009/127/EC .
It sets out standards that new equipment is expected to meet before it is placed on the market. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) led on this proposal with advice/support from HSE/CRD. A public consultation will be undertaken shortly.
Link to the published version of the Machinery Directive Amendment (pdf, 818kb, 29 pages)
Contact Details
Link to Contact details page.
Frequently Asked Questions on the New Regulation (1107/2009), Sustainable Use Directive and Statistics Regulation
A summary of the impacts of the Authorisation Regulation 1107/2009 (pdf 244kb, 8 pages);
First impact assessment on the Authorisation Regulation (pdf 178kb, 46 pages) assessing the original proposals and Parliament’s first reading amendments.
This report is also available in French (pdf 194kb, 50 pages) and German (pdf 193kb, 48 pages).
Second impact assessment on the Authorisation Regulation (pdf 460 kb, 37 pages) taking account of the Council’s 'common position' and the second reading amendments of the Parliament's ENVI Committee.
An indicative assessment for the rest of the EU. This report is available in a French (pdf 38kb, 6 pages) and a German (pdf 50kb, 5 pages) language version.
Evaluation of the impact of the proposed revisions on wheat production in the UK (pdf 459 kb, 47 pages) by the The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), Defra, plus Appendix 1- Data analyses (pdf 891 kb, 30 pages), Appendix 2 - loss models (pdf 48 kb, 3 pages), Appendix 3 - WDM (pdf 342 kb, 12 pages) and Appendix 4 - Statistical analyses (pdf 332 kb, 15 pages).
An economic assessment of the impact of the Authorisation Regulation (pdf 191kb, 27 pages) by Séan Rickard, Senior Lecturer in Business Economics at Cranfield University School of Management.
An interpretation of the substances which would be caught by the approval criteria adopted in the Council's 'common position', prepared by the Swedish regulatory authority, KemI.
Co-decision procedure.
UK MEPs.
