Public consultation on the EU Commissions proposal for a Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine sought views on the European Commission’s proposed Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR) to replace the existing Sustainable Use Directive (SUD).

Background and Aims of Proposal

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine are inviting stakeholders in Ireland to provide, in writing, their views on the Sustainable Use Regulation (SUR) proposal as it relates to them.

There are two targets for pesticides within the Farm to Fork Strategy:

• Target 1 aims to reduce by 50% the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030. This target is measured using pesticide sales data which measures the quantities of active substances contained in the pesticides which are placed on the market (sold), and therefore used, in each Member State, and a weighting based on the hazardous properties of these active substances.

• Target 2 aims to reduce by 50% the use of more hazardous pesticides by 2030. This will be measured by sales data for the more hazardous pesticides, known as the ‘candidates for substitution’.

The proposed SUR includes the legal requirement for the setting of these targets using baseline data from 2015-2017.

The proposed SUR also establishes additional requirements for the use, storage, sale and disposal of plant protection products (PPPs), pesticide application equipment (PAE), training, awareness raising and for implementation of integrated pest management (IPM).

Some Additional Measures Included in the Draft Proposal

• Sensitive Areas:

The SUR proposes to prohibit the use of PPPs in sensitive areas and within 3m of such areas. The definition of “sensitive area” includes the following areas: areas used by the general public and vulnerable groups, human settlements/urban areas, public parks or gardens, recreation or sports grounds, non-productive areas (GAEC 8), specific areas under other legislation such as the Water Framework Directive (including nutrient-sensitive/nitrate-vulnerable areas), the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive.

There is provision in the proposed regulation by means of a derogation, subject to approval following application to the Competent authority (CA), to permit the control of invasive species or quarantine pests.

• Advisors:

Designated CA’s in Member States will be required to establish, oversee & monitor a system of independent advisors for pesticide users which are free of conflict of interest. Pesticide Users must seek advice on integrated pest management, risk mitigation etc., at least once per year from an independent advisor and a record of this advice must be kept by pesticide users for 3 years.

• Electronic Systems:

The CA must establish and maintain electronic IPM and PPP use registers and professional users will be required to keep electronic records on any intervention used (chemical, biological, physical or cultural). Crop specific rules will incorporate threshold levels before intervention which allows for enforcement of IPM.

A central electronic register of pesticide application equipment (PAE) in professional use including a notification requirement for transfer of ownership/withdrawal from use is required.

• National Action Plan (NAP):

A new Irish National Action Plan will be required which will include national reduction targets, national measures to encourage use of non-chemical methods and to support innovation in this area. The NAP will also include links to the Irish CAP strategic plans in relation to plans for an increase in the utilised agricultural area (UAA) under organic farming.

The NAP will be updated every 3 years and an annual progress and implementation report must be published.

• Integrated Pest Management (IPM):

Professional Users (PUs) will have legal obligations to implement IPM. Competent authorities (CA) shall adopt binding crop-specific rules and IPM for crops, considering relevant agronomic and climatic conditions in that Member State. These shall be reviewed annually and updated where necessary.

Related Information

See information on the proposed Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulation (SUR) is available here:

https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/news/proposalforsustainableuseofpesticidesregulationcom2022305.html

Submissions

The response period for this consultation has ended and is no longer available.

Deadline

The response period for this consultation has ended and is no longer available.

Consultation Outcome

DAFM received over 300 submissions from the consultation period. The contributions from the submissions are provided below.

Data Protection and Freedom of Information

We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open, and transparent manner. Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation. All submissions and feedback will be considered by the Department Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Please note that it is intended that all submissions received may be made available under the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI) and may be published on the Department Agriculture, Food and the Marine website.

In responding to this consultation, parties should clearly indicate where their responses contain personal information, commercially sensitive information, or confidential information which they would not wish to be released under FOI or published on the department’s website.

We would like to draw your attention to the Department Agriculture, Food and the Marine's Data Protection Data Privacy Notice which is available on our website and explains how and when we collect personal data, why we do so and how we treat this information. It also explains your rights in relation to the collection of personal information and how you can exercise those rights.