Official Controls Regulations for Pesticides

Businesses and organisations working with Plant Protection Products (PPPs) in Great Britain are required to register basic information about their activity with Defra under The Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020 (OCR).

What are the benefits of the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020?
When used safely, PPPs provide protection for crops and natural landscapes from both native and invasive non-native species. They play a vital role in supporting plant health. This supports the maintenance of recreational, transport and amenity areas, and domestic food production throughout the agri-food supply chain to improve and provide assurance in feed and food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health. Official controls enable us to ensure that pesticides are used sustainably and in accordance with conditions of use.

Who is affected by the 2020 Regulations?
If you are a professional user of Plant Protection Products and any adjuvants in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), you must register under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020.

What do I have to do?
For professional users of PPPs, the deadline to meet this legal obligation was 22 June 2022. Defra put a mechanism in place to enable users in GB to provide this information and store it. If you begin using PPPs and any adjuvants in a professional capacity for the first time after 22 June 2022, you must register within 3 months of the time you begin.

Who must register?
You must register if you are a business in Great Britain that sells or uses professional plant protection products (PPPs) and adjuvants. You might work in agriculture, horticulture, amenity or forestry and:

• use professional PPPs and any adjuvants as part of your work
• have professional PPPs and any adjuvants applied by a third party as part of your work in agriculture or horticulture, amenity or forestry

As a user of PPPs, you need to register with this form >

It is a requirement for businesses and other organisations to register as professional users of PPPs, not the individuals who specifically apply PPPs. The regulations also apply to sellers, manufacturers, importers and distributors of PPPs.

For more information on this topic, please refer to the latest HSE Updates >

Full details of  The Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020  can be found here >