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ARCHIVE: Chemicals: Pesticides
Pesticides have an important role in controlling a variety of pests, weeds, diseases and moulds. However, they can harm people and wildlife and damage the environment if not produced and used with care.
Ensuring that pesticides are safe
The UK has strict regulations on the sale and use of pesticides. They are divided between “plant protection products” (essentially pesticides used in agriculture, horticulture and the home garden) and biocidal products (non-agricultural agents).
Defra has policy responsibility in England for plant protection products, which are used in a wide range of situations, including:
- Horticulture (e.g. in greenhouses and on parklands)
- Agriculture (e.g. on food crops)
- Forestry (e.g. on trees)
- Home garden (e.g. for amateur use in situations such as on houseplants, garden roses and lawns)
- In or near water (e.g. on river banks to control weeds)
- Vertebrate control agents (used to protect plants)
- Industrial herbicides (e.g. for land that needs to be kept clear of weeds but which will not be used to grow food)
The Chemicals Regulation Directorate of the Health and Safety Executive operates the regulatory systems for pesticides and biocides on behalf of UK Ministers. The devolved administrations have responsibility for pesticides in their territories. See:
Legislation: controlling the risks of pesticide use
The main legislation controlling the sale, supply and use of plant protection products is Council Directive 91/414/EEC concerning the placing of Plant Protection Products on the Market. This aims to harmonise the registration of plant protection products throughout the European Union. It establishes a two-tier registration system with active substances being assessed at Union level and placed on a “positive list”. Products containing these active substances are then assessed and registered by Member States.
The Directive is implemented in the UK by the Plant Protection Products Regulations 2005 (PPPR). When active substances are entered on the EU positive list, products containing these active substances are assessed under PPPR. Active substances which were already on the market when the Directive came into force and which have not yet been reviewed by the EU remain regulated under the UK’s previous pesticides legislation, the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986.
Encouraging and developing best practice in the use of pesticides
The UK Pesticides Strategy is designed to reduce further the risk to both human health and the environment which can arise from the use of plant protection products. Specifically, it aims to:
- Protect consumers by minimising risks from pesticides residues in food (See PRC reports);
- Protect users and workers by minimising exposure to pesticides;
- Protect residents and bystanders by minimising exposure from spray operations;
- Reduce water pollution caused by pesticides;
- Reduce the impact of pesticides on biodiversity;
- Establish ‘best practice’ in the use of pesticides in the amenity sector;
- Minimise the risk to users and the environment from amateur pesticide products;
- Maintain the availability of sufficient methods of crop protection particularly for minor crops (and also minor uses on major crops).
- Encourage the introduction of cost-effective alternative approaches and greater use of integrated crop and pest management.
The Strategy is being delivered through the Pesticides Forum, which brings together a range of organisations representing those who make, use or advise on pesticides as well as environmental, conservation and consumer interests. The Forum develops and promotes best practice in the use of pesticides.
The crop protection and farming industries have come together in the Voluntary Initiative, which takes forward a programme of activities to minimise the environmental impacts of pesticides.
Related links
The EU Thematic Strategy
The EU Thematic Strategy for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides has led to a package of new legal measures. These constitute:
See the Chemicals Regulation Directorate website for more on this.
Implementing the Sustainable Use Directive in the UK
The Sustainable Use Directive establishes a framework to promote good and best practice in the storage, use and disposal of pesticides. It includes: training of pesticides users; inspection of pesticide spraying equipment; aerial spraying; protecting the aquatic environment, public spaces and conservation areas; minimising the risk of pollution through handling, storage and disposal; and the promotion of low input regimes. The UK is required to implement the Directive by 25 November 2011.
As the first stage of implementation, UK Ministers launched a wide-ranging consultation on 9 February 2010:
Defra will carry out two further consultations. In early 2011 we will consult on draft legislation containing enforcement provisions to support Regulation 1107/2009 and introducing some new regulatory elements from Regulation 1107/2009. This consultation will also include a second draft statutory instrument which will introduce new fees and charges provisions.
Later in the year, we will consult on the draft legislation for implementing the Sustainable Use Directive in England and Wales.
PRC reports
The Pesticides Residues Committee (PRC) carries out monitoring of home produced and imported food for pesticide residues. The purpose of this monitoring is threefold, to:
- back up the statutory approvals process for pesticides by checking that no unexpected residues are occurring in crops;
- check that residues do not exceed the statutory Maximum Residue Level (MRL); and,
- check that human dietary intakes of residues in foods are within acceptable levels.
The PRC recently published findings from its second quarterly report for food samples collected in 2010 and these are available on the PRC website.
Results from the Department of Health’s School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme for spring and summer 2010 have also been published.
Page last modified: 6 July 2011
Page published: 9 February 2010