European Commission suggests amendments to pesticide statistics rules

The European Commission, taking into account the opinion of the relevant stakeholders, considers it important to further adapt the legislation on pesticides sales, so that all data that is not confidential can be made available to the public both as active substance, as well as in different forms of aggregation, according to the report from the European Commission to the European Parliament and the Council concerning statistics on pesticides. 

 

Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 stipulates that the Commission shall submit a report on the implementation of this Regulation to the European Parliament and the Council every five years. This report shall evaluate in particular the quality of data transmitted, as referred to in Article 4, the data collection methods, the burden on businesses, agricultural holdings and national administrations and the usefulness of these statistics in the context of the Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides in particular with regard to the objectives set out in Article 1. It shall, if appropriate, contain proposals designed to further improve data quality and data collection methods thereby improving the coverage and comparability of data and reducing the burden on businesses, agricultural holdings, and national administrations. 

 

In the report, the Commission considers it equally important to adapt further the legislation on pesticides use statistics to ensure a more consistent approach and coverage across the Member States. This could include specified common reference periods and clear coverage requirements for the crops to be surveyed. The coverage rules could be based on the crop production statistics (a certain percentage of arable and permanent crops could be covered) and on analyses of the potential risks to the environment and human health, based on the sales of active substances. These rules would be set up in close collaboration between the relevant Commission's services and agencies and with national experts. 

 

Finally, the Commission has, together with stakeholders, drafted a strategy for agricultural statistics for 2020 and beyond. The strategy suggests that all agricultural statistics, except the Economic Accounts for Agriculture, should be grouped under two framework regulations. The Commission strongly recommends that pesticide statistics should be also merged with the other agricultural statistics domains.