National Action Plan on Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products

Source: © Michel Bazin - Fotolia.com

The objective of the National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides is to further reduce risks that may arise from the use of plant protection products. The Julius Kühn Institute has now set up an internet portal for the action plan.

The National Action Plan on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides is based on the current legal position regarding plant protection products. The legal framework is very comprehensive, with pesticide approvals which give users clear rules on product handling and application, stipulations on the quality and safety of crop protection equipment and on the expertise that product users must possess, and supplementary requirements that are set out in the German Plant Protection Act, the German Best Practice Code on Crop Protection and other areas of the law.

The measures focus on promoting innovation in plant protection and the development of methods of integrated crop protection. They will be complemented by appropriate measures implemented and borne by the Federal Government and the Länder.

The measures are intended

1. to reduce the risks that chemical pesticides pose for human health, animals and the natural balance, and to minimize the intensity of the use of these pesticides,
2. to further reduce residues of pesticides in domestic and imported agricultural products, thus representing a major advance in preventive consumer protection, and
3. to improve the economic situation of farms by avoiding the costs incurred by unnecessary use of plant protection products.