About the topic

Plant protection products are widely used in agriculture to protect the growth of crops and eradicate pests. They are strictly regulated in the EU.

This scientific opinion provides advice on how to improve and adapt the approval and authorisation process for plant protection products.

The recommendations informed the revision of the General Food Law Regulation and the new regulation on transparency and sustainability of the EU risk assessment in the food chain.

The scientific journal Nature discussed the opinion in an editorial shortly after publication.

Advice and related documents

• Scientific opinion - EU authorisation processes of plant protection products from a scientific point of view (June 2018) informed by SAPEA evidence review report (June 2018)
• Summary - Scientific Opinion on plant protection products (June 2018)
• News: Commission's Chief Scientific Advisors publish opinion on EU authorisation processes of Plant Protection Products
• Scoping paper - Plant protection products (April 2017)

Contact: EC-SAM@ec.europa.eu