National Plant Protection Action Plan 2012.

The objective of the National Action Plan is to encourage the development and introduction of integrated pest management and safer alternative approaches in Hungary. Hungary’s further objective is to use the plant protection products in such a way as necessary for sustainable agriculture, for the protection of plants and plant products from the harmful organisms and for producing high quality and safe foods.
To reach these objectives the target areas of the National Action Plan include: maintenance of plant health safety by applying the minimum amount of plant protection products (PPP); mitigation of the risks imposed to human health and the environment originating from the PPP use and pest management programs by providing risks mitigating measures; protection of non-target organisms and mitigation of the related risks; replacement of plant protection products of concern, suppression of their use; promotion of the use of low-risk PPPs; support of the sustainable and environmental-friendly use PPPs; significant suppression of unnecessary treatments or treatments made with doses higher than necessary; termination of the placing on the market and use of illegal PPPs; reduction of the damages caused by the use of PPPs and the wastes generated to the environment; promotion of the competitiveness of sustainable plant production, reduction of the costs incurred for the producers by reducing the number of treatments and providing alternative techniques; mitigation of the risk factors occurring in the aerial spraying in order to safely perform the activity; promotion of integrated pest management, biological control and ecological farming; establishment of biological diversity in the agricultural ecosystems by encouraging agricultural forestation; raising the level of plant protection qualification and practices, with special attention to the principle of prevention; running an objective, independent advisory network; promotion of non-chemical alternatives for the prevention of epidemics, outbreak and invasion in order to support production safety; encouraging understandable communication and dissemination of information among the general public; development of coordinated national program for plant protection research and innovation; provision of information on project resources supporting development and investments of sustainable pesticide use.
The Plant Protection Committee of the Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) and the MRD Department of Food Chain Control are responsible for the policy aspects of the Action Plan. The MRD Sub-directorate Plan Protection and Soil Conservation through its Dept. of Phytosanitary Measures and Control of Planting Materials and Central Laboratories are the coordinating structures for the implementation of the Action Plan while the Plant Protection Department and the Border Inspection Posts are responsible for the Action Plan implementation.