National Action Plan to Reduce the Use of Pesticides in the Czech Republic.

This National Action Plan to Reduce the Use of Pesticides is a nationwide sectoral document developed in accordance with the Directive 2009/128/EC aiming at (i) reducing the adverse impact of plant protection products on human health and the environment; and (ii) supporting the development and implementation of integrated pest management and alternative approaches in order to reduce dependency on the use of the PP products. The NAP concerns areas that are or may be affected by the negative impacts of using plant protection products. The NAP concerns three areas (1) protecting public health both by poisoning resulting from accidents and careless use of PP products and by consuming food containing above-limit residues and monitoring food containing residues; (2) protection of groundwater and surface water, in particular water resources and sources of drinking water; and (3) protecting non-target organisms (plants, invertebrates, vertebrates) both directly and indirectly (by means of the food chain) at risk from using the PP products in agricultural and forest ecosystems.
To achieve the overall goal, the NAP sets out the following objectives (i) limiting the risks associated with the use of PP products; (ii) optimising the use of PP products without limiting the scope of agricultural production and the quality of plant products, to be achieved implementing a number of milestones in the three aforementioned areas.
To make agriculture and forestry more productive and sustainable, the NAP proposes the following (i) adopt measures to reduce the risks associated with the occurrence of residues in raw materials, food and feed of plant and animal origin; (ii) examine the adequacy of existing national measures to limit the risks to human health and the environment on fertilisers, supplementary soil substances, supplementary plant substances and substrates and on agrochemical testing of agricultural soils and, if inappropriate, take the necessary measures; (iii) adopt legislative measures to increase the efficiency of controls on compliance with the principles of correct PP products´ use; (iv) adopt measures to regulate the application of PP products in endangered zones, paying particular attention to the real impact on agricultural subjects, especially those farming in the buffer zones of water sources; (v) develop the missing crop-focused non-chemical plant protection methods and protection methods with low PP products inputs; and (vi) optimise the IPM system for conditions of organic farming and integrated plant production systems.
As for the Governance, (i) the MoE, MoA and MoH, including the subordinate ministerial offices and organisations, shall ensure the improvement of the system for monitoring the impact of PP products on the environment and non-target organisms by 2020; (ii) the MoA, through the State Phytosanitary Administration (SPA) and in collaboration with the MoH, universities and professional non-governmental organizations, shall prepare information programmes and documents for professional PP products´ users, other authorised persons and for the public; and (iii) the MoA, in coordination with the SPA, associations of professional PP products´ users and NGOs, shall ensure the establishment of a plant protection advisory service by 2014 and optimise it by 2015.