New EU regulation sets rules for recording use of plant protection products by professional users, effective from January 1, 2026
The European Commission has issued a new regulation, COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2023/564, which establishes detailed rules for the content and format of records of plant protection products kept by professional users. The regulation is intended to ensure adequate recording of the use of plant protection products, as well as national authorities' monitoring and control activities based on such records, in order to achieve the objectives of the Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system.
Under the new regulation, professional users of plant protection products will be required to keep records containing the name of the product, the time and dose of application, the area treated, and the crop where the product was used. The regulation also establishes rules on the format of the records, requiring that they be kept electronically using a machine-readable format as defined in Article 2(13) of Directive (EU) 2019/1024. To ensure uniformity of the records, the regulation provides for appropriate alternative identification methods for the location of an area or facility where a plant protection product was used when identification through the unit of land within the scope of the geospatial aid application of the integrated administration and control system is not possible.
In addition, the regulation sets out rules on the timing of recording and transfer to electronic format. The professional user is required to record each use of a plant protection product without undue delay. Where the records are not initially created in the prescribed electronic format, they shall be transferred into such a format no later than 30 days from the date of use of the plant protection product. For uses of plant protection products on their territory, Member States may provide for shorter periods for the transfer into the prescribed electronic format. For uses of plant protection products on their territory before 1 January 2030, Member States may allow for longer periods than those set out in the second paragraph, within which the records shall be transferred into the prescribed electronic format, as long as all records are available in the prescribed electronic format before 31 January of the year following the year of use of the plant protection product.
When requested by the competent authority pursuant to Article 67(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 to provide information contained in the records, the professional user shall provide the information without undue delay. Professional users that act under contractual arrangements for another natural or legal person, shall provide access to or a copy of the records to that contracting person without undue delay or restrictions.
The European Commission hopes that the new regulation will reduce dependency on and use of chemical plant protection products, as well as facilitate the achievement of the Farm to Fork Strategy’s objectives. The regulation will apply from 1 January 2026.
You can find the full text of the regulation here.