Ban on use of plant protection products in certain areas
Innehållsförteckning:
The Swedish Government has in March 2021 decided to ban the use of plant protection products in certain types of areas. The Swedish Chemicals Agency may decide to exempt from the ban active substances that pose only limited risks and has decided which active substances that will be exempted.
The Governmental ban in certain areas
On the 24th of March 2021 the Swedish Government decided on an amendment of the Swedish Ordinance (2014:425) on pesticides. The amendment implies a ban of the use of plant protection products in the following areas:
- in schoolyards, courtyards of preschools or in playgrounds to which the public has access
- in recreational areas, primarily intended for recreation, such as parks and gardens
- in allotment garden areas or in greenhouses used for non-professional purposes
- on land for residential buildings and in private gardens
- on plants indoors, except in production premises, warehouses and similar places.
The ban applies from 1st October 2021.
The Swedish Government has also decided that the Swedish Chemicals Agency may decide on exemptions from the ban. Exemptions can be granted for active substances in plant protection products, provided that the substances pose only limited risks to human health and the environment.
Read more about the amendments in SFS 2014:425 at the web-site of the Swedish Government.
External link. (in Swedish)
The amended Ordinance SFS 2014:425 was remitted during the summer 2020 and notified to the EU Commission in October 2020.
Read more about the ban in the notification to the EU Commission. External link.
Amendment of the Swedish Chemicals Agency´s regulations
In accordance with the amendment of the Swedish Ordinance 2014:425 the Swedish Chemicals Agency has decided on amendments of its regulations (KIFS 2022:3) on pesticides. The new rules include exemptions of active substances which pose only limited risks and also new criteria for placing plant protection products in authorisation classes.
Read more about the new rules in the press-release from the Swedish Chemicals Agency. (In Swedish)
Exemptions from the ban
The Swedish Chemicals Agency has decided to exempt the following active substances from the Governmental ban:
- active substances that are approved as substances posing low risks in accordance with Article 22 of the EU Plant Protection Products Regulation (No 1107/2009)
- active substances which have been listed in Annex 1 to KIFS 2022:3.
The substances covered by Article 22 are listed in Part D in the Annex of the EU Regulation (EC) No 540/2011, which lists approved active substances. The other exempted substances are listed in Annex 1 to KIFS 2022:3 and include substances that are considered to pose only limited risk to human health and the environment. Several of the substances on the lists are not yet found in any plant protection product on the Swedish market.
Here you can find comprehensive tables of all the exempted substances.
Authorisation classes
The Swedish Chemicals Agency has also decided to amend the criteria for placing plant protection products in the authorisation class 3. Class 3 is the authorisation class allowed for non-professional users. The amendment implies that only plant protection products containing active substances posing low risks can be placed in Class 3. This means that active substances allowed in products in Class 3 will be the same as the substances exempted from the ban.
The new criteria will apply to new authorisations and when already existing authorisations in Class 3 are renewed. This means that during a transition period there will be products already authorised in Class 3 that may be sold but may not be used in the areas covered by the ban.
Amended rules at other national agencies
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has rules for notification and permits for spreading plant protection products. These rules are also amended as a consequence of the changes made by the Swedish Government in the national regulation on pesticides, SFS 2014:425, concerning the ban of use of plant protection product in certain areas.
The decision of the Swedish Government gives the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency a mandate to decide on regulations in order to prevent introduction, establishment and spread of invasive species in the areas covered by the ban. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency provides guidance to the municipal authorities on possibilities for exemptions to control invasive species.
The Swedish Government has also decided that the Swedish Board of Agriculture may decide on regulations on exemptions from the ban in order to prevent introduction, establishment and spread of invasive species on meadow and pasture lands.
The Swedish Borad of Agriculture can also decide on regulations on exemptions from the ban in order to control quarantine pests or for the cultivation of plants preserved by the National Gene Bank or in the Nordic Genetic Resource Centre.