(1)

Pursuant to Article 67(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, professional users of plant protection products are to keep records of those products they use, containing the name of the product, the time and the dose of application, the area treated and the crop where the product was used.

(2)

Under Article 67(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, professional users are also to make the relevant information available to the competent authority on request. Furthermore, third parties may request the competent authorities to provide access to that information and competent authorities are to provide such access in accordance with applicable national or Union law.

(3)

The Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system (‘the Farm to Fork Strategy’) (2), adopted by the Commission in 2020, aims to reduce dependency on, and use of, chemical plant protection products. Adequate recording of the use of plant protection products, and national authorities’ monitoring and control activities based on such records, are therefore instrumental to the achievement of the Farm to Fork Strategy’s objectives.

(4)

There are differences between national regimes as regards the records kept by professional users of plant protection products under Article 67(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and whether they are kept electronically. Therefore, this Regulation establishes detailed rules on the content and format of those records.

(5)

Those rules define how the elements listed in Article 67(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 relating to the use of plant protection products (name of the product, time, dose, area and crop of application) are to be recorded, so that the adequate and uniform quality of records kept under that article is ensured throughout the Union.

(6)

As the use of plant protection products by professional users most often occurs as part of agricultural activities and in order to align with existing requirements relevant for agriculture, when possible, identification of the location of the area or facility where the plant protection product was used should be done through the unit of land within the scope of the geo-spatial aid application of the integrated administration and control system as referred to in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1173 (3). When this is not possible, Member States should provide professional users with appropriate alternative methods for the identification of the location of the area where the plant protection product was used, and, where relevant, the geospatial location.

(7)

To achieve uniformity of the records, the crop names, situations or land uses should be recorded, where applicable, in line with the codes used by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (‘EPPO codes’) and the growth stages of plants, where applicable, in accordance with the BBCH monograph (4).

(8)

In order to avoid requiring professional users to create multiple sets of records for the same use to comply with different obligations, it is appropriate to clarify that Member States have the possibility to require the users to include other information in combination with the records required under Article 67(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.

(9)

Records should be kept electronically, as electronic means of record-keeping are best suited to enable a uniform application of the record-keeping obligation. This ensures greater reliability of the records, facilitates their collection and verification by the competent authorities and ultimately supports accurate, efficient and effective monitoring and control activities by Member States. To this end, the electronic formats used should also be machine-readable as defined in Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5).

(10)

To reduce the administrative burden, professional users should have sufficient time between recording of each use of plant protection products and the transfer of the records into electronic format.

(11)

A professional user may use plant protection products under contractual arrangements for another natural or legal person. In those cases, the professional user should provide access to or a copy of the relevant records kept to that person without any undue delays or restrictions.

(12)

This Regulation is without prejudice to the use of the data contained in the records for other purposes outside of the scope of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 in accordance with Union or national law. The availability of harmonised electronic records can facilitate the use of the information for other legitimate purposes, thereby avoiding duplication of efforts and reducing the burden on professional users and public authorities.

(13)

In order to allow professional users to prepare themselves to meet the requirements set out in this Regulation, they should be given reasonable time before its requirements become applicable.

(14)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,