Restrictions on the use of plant protection products (SMR 10)

This is an old version of the page

Date published: 6 July, 2015

Date superseded: 11 January, 2018

The aim of these rules is to ensure that plant protection products are used correctly and to minimise their risk to humans, animals and the environment.

You must:

1. Use the authorised or permitted plant protection product in accordance with any requirements or conditions of the authorisation, permit or in any extension of use

  • products must be authorised or permitted for use on the crop, land or situation
  • products must be authorised for method of application
  • observe application dates/harvest intervals
  • follow the maximum dose/concentration
  • follow the maximum number of applications

2. Comply with label conditions for the authorised or permitted plant protection product, for example:

  • safe storage (e.g. keep out of reach of children, in original containers, protected from frost and stored to prevent environmental contamination)
  • safe disposal (e.g. empty containers disposed of safely and containers not reused)
  • operator safety (e.g. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available for use when handling concentrate)
  • general warnings (e.g. extreme care should be taken to avoid spray drift)

There are record-keeping requirements for plant protection products. These fall within the Cross Compliance rules for SMR 4 – Food and feed law.

You must not:

1. use any plant protection product unless it is authorised or has a valid parallel trade permit

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