Departmental responsibilities regarding pesticides

Plant Protection Product (PPP) Legislation in Northern Ireland

DAERA is responsible for the following key pieces of PPP legislation:

• Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 governs the approval of active substances and the placing on the market of plant protection products; implemented in Northern Ireland by:
  The Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 as amended
• Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 establishes harmonized maximum residue levels of pesticides; implemented in Northern Ireland by:
  The Pesticide (Maximum Residue Levels) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008
• Regulation (EU) 2017/625 on official controls and other official activities performed to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products (The OCR); implemented in Northern Ireland for pesticides by:
  The Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
• Directive 2009/128/EC on the sustainable use of pesticides, which has been transposed into UK law through:
  The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012
• Control of Pesticide Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (COPR) to regulate the sale, supply, storage, use and advertisement of certain pesticides and other substances. COPR has largely been overtaken by the EU derived legislation regulating pesticides and only survives to regulate a few commodity substances and products, which fall outside the scope of the more recent legislation.

DAERA's roles and responsibilities

DAERA is the Competent Authority responsible for implementing the EU pesticide related legislation and for pesticide policy; and ensuring compliance related to the placing on the market and sustainable use of pesticides and pesticide residues in Northern Ireland.

DAERA is also the competent authority responsible for the organisation of official controls and of other official activities for the purposes of ensuring operators compliance with the rules for the authorisation, marketing and use of plant protection products and pesticide residues. This includes official controls on active substances and safeners, synergists, co-formulants and adjuvants. Read our guidance Plant Protection Products (pesticides) and Official Controls.

The Chemicals Regulation Division of the Health and Safety Executive in Great Britain (HSE), under Agency Agreement, deliver a number of Competent Authority functions on our behalf including:

• the evaluation and authorisation of pesticides for sale and use in NI;
• setting out the conditions of use of authorised pesticides;
• authorising aerial spraying, establishing the specific conditions under which aerial spraying may be carried out and issuing permits;
• preparing, publishing and submitting to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) the annual Northern Ireland Pesticide Residues Control Plan; and
• the operational delivery of our annual monitoring programme for pesticides residues in the UK food supply no matter where it was produced;

With an emphasis on prevention, we work to encourage and support operators to ensure compliance with the law through compliance promotion, stakeholder engagement and best practice guidance. More information on the legal requirements and best practice guidance for operators can be found on the Operator Responsibilities Regarding Pesticides guidance page.

Approval of PPPs in Northern Ireland

Before any PPP can be used, sold, supplied or stored in Northern Ireland it must be authorised for use. All authorisations in the NI are determined under Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market.

Active substances must first be approved before the products containing them are authorised for use. For NI, active substance applications are reviewed and approved by the European Commission. Approval is only given following a rigorous assessment of safety and any risks to human health and the environment which involves the European Food Safety Authority, Member States and scientific experts.

The EU Active Substance Database contains information on active substances (including those that are low-risk or candidates for substitution) and basic substances, either approved or non-approved in the EU.

Once an active substance is approved in Europe, companies can then apply to the national regulatory authority (HSE) for permission to place their PPP on the market in NI. Further information on how to apply for a product authorisation including links to application forms is available on the HSE website.

HSE maintains a number of databases on PPPs for use in GB & NI, including:

• Pesticides Register of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Authorised Products,
• Extension of Authorisation for minor use in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

These databases identify the extent of the authorisation as GB+NI, GB only or NI only. Please be aware that there can be a time lag between new authorisations being issued and their details appearing on the website databases. A similar delay can also occur when changes are made to existing authorisations.

Pesticide Maximum Residue Levels

A maximum residue level (MRL) is the maximum concentration of a pesticide residue in or on food or feed that is legally tolerated when a pesticide is applied correctly (following good agricultural practice).

MRLs are set in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 by the European Commission, following assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). EU MRLs apply to food or feed produced in or imported into and marketed within Northern Ireland. You can search for current EU MRLs in food stuffs on the EU Pesticides Residues database.

Annex I of Regulation (EC) 396/2005 lists products of plant and animal origin to which MRLs apply. According to footnote 1 to Annex I “MRLs do not apply to products or part of products that by their characteristics and nature are used exclusively as ingredients of animal feed, until separate MRLs are set …”. DAERA, DEFRA and the Scottish and Welsh Governments interpret the footnote in the same way and agree that, legally, the current MRLs apply equally to food and animal feed and that feed and feed ingredients are only exempt from MRLs if the particular product(s) or part of the product(s) could not be used for human consumption or is never used for human consumption due to characteristics or nature such as citrus pulp or soya hulls. Labelling for animal feed is not sufficient to exclude a commodity from MRLs.

The UK Government has committed to unfettered access for qualifying Northern Ireland goods moving to the rest of the UK market. This means treated produce from Northern Ireland produced in accordance with EU pesticide MRLs can be placed on the market in Great Britain even if EU and GB pesticide MRLs diverge, if it is a qualifying Northern Ireland good. Goods treated with a Great Britain (GB) only authorisation can only be marketed in Northern Ireland (NI) if the relevant EU MRL is in place.

Monitoring of pesticide residues in food

We are required by Regulation (EC) 396/2005 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1355 to establish a national control programme for pesticide residues with the dual purpose of assessing consumer exposure and compliance with legislation. In addition, we must also participate in an EU control programme.

We are required to submit our updated national control programme for pesticide residues and the results of our monitoring programme to the Commission and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on an annual basis.

We are legally required to publish all results of our national residue monitoring and EU monitoring on the Internet. Our results are published alongside the GB results on the Gov.UK website.

Official Controls List of Operators

The Official Controls Regulation requires DAERA, as competent authority to maintain a list of pesticide operators and carry out official controls.

For this purpose, DAERA has developed a registration application requiring all individuals who use PPPs as part of their work, as well as those involved in the PPP supply chain for both professional and amateur use, to register. Visit The Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 – List of Operators Registration, to register online and for additional information.