National Law
Plant Protection Products Act 2011
In force since 14.6.2011
Plant Protection Products Ordinance 2011
Plant Protection Products Act 1997
Invalid, but still partially applicable under transitional provisions
Chemicals Act 1996 as amended (ChemG)
Chemicals Ordinance 1999 as amended
Pesticide Maximum Values Ordinance 2002 as amended (SchäHöV)
EU law
EU Regulation on the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of 21 October 2009
EU Regulations implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTATION REGULATION (EU) 2018/783 of 29 May 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the conditions for the approval of the active substance imidacloprid
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTATION REGULATION (EU) 2018/784 of 29 May 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the conditions for the approval of the active substance clothianidin
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTATION REGULATION (EU) 2018/785 of 29 May 2018 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the conditions for the approval of the active substance thiamethoxam
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTATION REGULATION (EU) 2017/2324 of 12 December 2017 renewing the approval of the active substance glyphosate provided for in Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and amending the Annex to Commission implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 concerning the active substance glyphosate
implementing regulation (EU) 2016/1313 of 1 August 2016 amending implementing regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the conditions for the approval of the active substance glyphosate
implementing regulation (EU) 2016/1056 of 29 June 2016 amending implementing regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the extension of the duration of the approval of the active substance glyphosate
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTATION REGULATION (EU) No 485/2013 of 24 May 2013 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 as regards the conditions for the approval of the active substances clothianidin, thiamethoxam and imidacloprid and the prohibition on the use and sale of seeds treated with plant protection products containing these active substances
implementing regulation (EU) No 540/2011 of the commission
of 25 May 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of approved active substances
implementing regulation (EU) No 541/2011 of the commission
of 1 June 2011 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list of approved active substances
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 544/2011
of 10 June 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards data requirements for active substances
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 284/2013 of 1 March 2013 laying down data requirements for plant protection products under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 545/2011
of 10 June 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards data requirements for plant protection products
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 546/2011 of 10 June 2011
implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards uniform principles for evaluation and authorisation of plant protection products
COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 547/2011 of 8 June 2011
implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards labelling requirements for plant protection products
Other important EU Directives and Regulations
EU Regulation on statistics on pesticides
Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 of 25 November 2009.
EU Regulation implementing the Regulation on statistics on pesticides
Regulation (EU) No. 408/2011 of 27 April 2011
EU Directive establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides
Directive 2009/128/EC of 21 October 2009
Corrigendum to Directive 2009/128/EC
EU Regulation on maximum residue levels of pesticides in or on food and feed:
Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of 23 February 2005.
European Commission MRL Database
EU Directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations
Publication of harmonised risk indicators in accordance with Directive (EU) 2019/782
General Information:
Directive (EU) 2019/782 establishes harmonised risk indicators within the European Union, thus helping to further implement the objectives of Directive 2009/128/EC establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides. The Member States are therefore required to publish the following information each year.
Overview:
In Austria, only plant protection products that have been approved by the Federal Office for Food Safety (BAES) following a comprehensive test procedure may be placed on the market. These are pesticides which are used both in the open air and in greenhouses, as well as in stock protection.
The basic prerequisite for the authorisation of a plant protection product is that the active substances, safeners and synergists contained have been approved in accordance with the uniform EU laws and can therefore be used in products. The active substances listed in the graphs below include both active substances for use in conventional farming and active substances permitted in organic farming. Details on the respective risk indicators can be found in Directive (EU) 2019/782.
Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 (HRI 1)
The basis for the calculation of HRI 1 is the annual sales volumes of plant protection product active substances within Austria, which are multiplied by the respective weighting. For this purpose, the reference value 100 is formed with the average from the years 2011 to 2013.
In recent years, the HRI 1 in Austria has increased. A significant reason for this is the inclusion of inert gases - e.g. carbon dioxide - in the statistics. These have only been included in the calculation of HRI 1 in Austria since 2016. The high application quantities resulting from the application characteristics have led to a significant increase in HRI 1 in the application field of inert gases, primarily for storage treatment, as of 2016. In 2019, a total of 1392 tonnes of inert gases were placed on the market in Austria, which corresponds to about 28% of the total quantity of active substances placed on the market. (see Green Report)
Another factor for the increase in HRI 1 in Austria is the increased use of plant protection products with active ingredients that have a high active ingredient application rate per hectare. For example, for sulphur and copper this is several kilograms per hectare, for potassium hydrogen carbonate and sulphur lime between 30 kg and 55 kg of active ingredient per hectare. In comparison, the usual active ingredient application rate for crop protection products per hectare is significantly lower. As a rule, the amount of active ingredient applied ranges from a few grams to a few kilograms.
Harmonised Risk Indicator 2 (HRI 2)
The Harmonised Risk Indicator 2 is based on the number of emergency authorisations granted. The weighting of the active substances is analogous to HRI 1. Likewise, the reference value 100 is set with the average from the years 2011 to 2013.
The HRI 2 has increased in Austria in recent years. The decisive factor for this was, on the one hand, the emergence of indication gaps in regular authorisations, which are particularly important for minor uses according to Art. 51 Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009. On the other hand, the low number of newly approved active substances and the increased occurrence of pests due to weather conditions.
Emergency authorisations also played an important role in organic farming in Austria. In 2019, a total of 54 emergency authorisations were granted, of which 19 were applicable in organic cultivation (35%).
Example of measures to reduce the use of plant protection products and to promote integrated pest management:
Certain precautions in equipment configuration and operation can reduce the standard distance to surface waters without creating a risk of unacceptable pollution for aquatic organisms. Similar to the use of drift-reducing plant protection equipment or parts of plant protection equipment, dust drift can be reduced by technical measures in pneumatic precision air seeder units with suction air system in order to prevent unacceptable pollution of the environment - in particular of "non-target organisms" such as bees. The decree of the BMNT, the amendment of the decree as well as the current list of drift-reducing devices and device parts and the list of dust drift-reducing pneumatic precision air seeders with suction air system can be found below.