Background

Directive 2009/128/EC establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides (SUD) is transposed in Subsidiary Legislation 430.08 entitled Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulations, 2011 (Legal Notice 489 of 2011) of the Laws of Malta.  This directive requires the establishment and calculation of Harmonised Risk Indicators (HRIs) by using statistical data collected in accordance with the Community Legislation concerning the statistics on plant protection products together with relevant data.

These HRIs are necessary to measure progress in meeting the objective of the SUD in the reduction of risks for pesticide use for human health and the environment.

In 2019, Directive (EU) 2019/782 was adopted to establish a method of calculation of HRIs with the intention to estimate the trends in risk resulting from pesticide use. Directive (EU) 2019/782 amends Annex VI of the SUD and is transposed in national legislation.

Further details on the establishment of HRIs can be found here. 

Sales of Pesticides in Malta

Data on pesticides is collected annually in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 concerning statistics on pesticides which establishes a common framework for the systematic production of community statistics on the placing on the market and use of those pesticides. The competent authority responsible for the reporting of such data is the National Statistics Office of Malta (NSO), in fulfilment of the obligations of this regulation, data on sales of authorised PPPs is collected on an annual basis from all recognised importers and is transmitted to Eurostat.

The data collected in fulfilment if the provisions of Reg 1185/2009 was used to calculate the HRI reflecting volumes of plant protection products placed on the market annually in Malta, in accordance to the method of calculation provided in Directive (EU) 2019/782.

Harmonised Risk Indicators

Risk indicators are the result of a method of calculation that can be used to evaluate risk of pesticides on human health or the environment. Directive (EU) 2019/782, as transposed in national legislation supports a harmonised way how the indicators can be calculated.

Two HRIs are calculated: HRI1 and HRI2.

Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 (HRI1)

HRI1 is calculated from the quantities of pesticide active substances placed on the market  collected in fulfilment if the provisions of Reg 1185/2009 and submitted to Eurostat on an annual basis. A weighting factor is applied based on the information and the classification of the active substance present in the pesticide in accordance with Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 i.e. whether the substance is a low-risk substance, a candidate for substitution, an unauthorised active substance or a substance which does not fall under either of these categories.

A baseline is considered for the calculations concerning HRI1 which is set at 100 and equal to the average value reflective of the quantities of pesticide active substances placed on the market for the first three years of data collection i.e. the period of 2011 to 2013. Thus, the total volume placed on the market annually is expressed as an index in relation to 100.

The trend line for HRI1 for Malta is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1. HRI1 trend line for the years 2011-2017 for Malta reflecting the volume of plant protection products placed on the market annually[1].

Harmonised Risk Indicator 2 (HRI2)

HRI2 is calculated based on the number of emergency authorisations granted under Article 53 of Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 annually. Emergency authorisations for plant protection products are granted when no alternative authorised product is available to treat a particular pest problem and no alternative means were available to control the pest situation.  A weighting factor is applied based on the information and the categorisation of the active substance in the pesticide in accordance with Regulation (EC) 1107/2009.

The baseline considered for the calculations concerning HRI2 is also set at 100 and equal to the average value of emergency authorisations for the first three years of data collection i.e. the period of 2011 to 2013. Thus, the total number of authorisations annually are expressed as an index in relation to 100.

The number of emergency authorisations granted annually in Malta is low and ranges from no authorisations as in the case for year 2012 up to a maximum of three authorisation as in the case of 2017, throughout the covering period of 2011 - 2017. The emergency authorisations were granted for limited and controlled use in cases where the situation could not be controlled by other reasonable means and no alterative authorised plant protection products were available to deal with the pest.

Figure 2. HRI2 trend line for the years 2011-2017 for Malta reflecting the number of emergency authorisations granted annually.

[1] The data collected annually in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 concerning statistics on pesticides which establishes a common framework for the systematic production of community statistics on the placing on the market and use of those plant protection products placed on the market annually in Malta, in accordance to the method of collection provide in Directive (EU) 2019/782.