Restrictions on the use of plant protection products (SMR 10)

Date published: 11 January, 2018

For recent changes to this guidance, please see the bottom of the page.

The aim of these rules is to ensure that plant protection products* are used correctly and to minimise their risk to humans, animals and the environment.

You must:

1. Use the authorised or permitted plant protection product in accordance with any requirements or conditions of the authorisation, permit or in any extension of use

  • products must be authorised or permitted for use on the crop, land or situation
  • products must be authorised for method of application
  • observe application dates/harvest intervals
  • follow the maximum dose/concentration
  • follow the maximum number of applications

2. Comply with label conditions for the authorised or permitted plant protection product, for example:

  • safe storage (e.g. keep out of reach of children, in original containers, protected from frost and stored to prevent environmental contamination)
  • safe disposal (e.g. empty containers disposed of safely and containers not reused)
  • operator safety (e.g. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available for use when handling concentrate)
  • general warnings (e.g. extreme care should be taken to avoid spray drift)

There are record-keeping requirements for plant protection products. These fall within the Cross Compliance rules for SMR 4 – Food and feed law.

You must not:

1. use any plant protection product unless it is authorised or has a valid parallel trade permit

Plant Protection Products are ‘pesticides’ that protect crops.

A ‘pesticide’ is something that prevents, destroys, or controls a harmful organism (‘pest’) or disease, or protects plants or plant products.

The term includes, amongst others: herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, acaricides, nematicides, molluscicides, rodenticides, growth regulators, repellents, rodenticides and biocides.

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Statutory Management Requirements (SMRs)