Deadline for UK-wide pesticide registration looms

Time is running out for UK farmers and growers who use pesticides to register their business details in a government database.

The requirement to register by 22 June 2022 falls under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020.

See also: Scottish farmers’ groups demand earlier BPS payments

Any company that uses phytosanitary products (PPP) and adjuvants on a professional basis, including breeders, must comply with them.

The decision applies to England, Scotland and Wales and details should include:

• Company name and addresses where the products are supplied and stored
• How much product is used
• Quantities stored
• Annual applications.

Strutt & Parker agricultural consultant David Hurst said the announcement, made a month ago, came as a surprise.

“We are aware that many producers have not yet completed the form and the process will require going back to previous files,” Mr. Hurst said.

He stressed that all addresses where products are stored and used should be added.

“For example, if PPPs are stored at two addresses and the records are kept in a separate office, all three addresses must be recorded,” Hurst explained.

Companies where PPPs and admixtures are applied by a third party must also register their details.

However, while contractors must register the address where the chemicals are stored, they do not have to fill in the contact details of their customers.

Responding to a question about the amount of PPP applied in a typical year, Defra advised contractors to include the total amount of PPP and admixtures applied for all customers.

UNF lobbying

Following successful lobbying by the NFU, Defra modified the registration form so that users can now register their involvement in insurance programs. This could lead to being able to take deserved recognition into account.

The NFU said this would help ease members’ frustrations about possible duplication of effort.

Farmers who have already completed the registration form can complete it again and submit it again, to have these details captured.

NFU Vice President David Exwood said: “Although Defra’s intention seems to have been to keep it simple, farmers on the ground see these new requirements as a burden and understandably have many questions on their minds. topic.

“It is good that Defra is starting to address these concerns which we have already raised with them.