National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products.

In its Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, ‘The CAP towards 2020’, the European Commission identifies three core challenges the Common Agricultural Policy must face: food security, the environment and climate change, and territorial balance. The Commission proposes a common response to these three objectives: viable food production, sustainable management of natural resources, climate change mitigation and adaptation and balanced territorial development. The adoption and implementation of Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 establishing a framework for Community action to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides, which translates the European Commission’s major challenges into specific implementing measures to be ensured by Member States, represents a major contribution to this response in terms of the use of plant protection products.
The National Action Plan (NAP) for the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products includes a comprehensive description of the current situation regarding the sale and use of plant protection products and maps out the various facets of the legal framework, i.e. protection of human health and the environment and sustainable means of protection and production, which are detailed in Volume II. For the purposes of the NAP and the strategy for the sustainable use of plant protection products, these products will be defined as pesticides used to protect plants or plant products from all harmful organisms (pests, diseases and weeds), to influence the life processes of plants and to preserve plant products, as defined by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market.
The proposed framework for the NAP mirrors the areas and objectives set out in Law No 26/2013, which regulates the distribution, sale and application of plant protection products for professional use and their adjuvants and defines procedures for monitoring the use of such products. This Law, together with Decree Law No 86/2010 of 15 June 2010 establishing the mandatory inspection scheme governing application equipment for plant protection products authorized for professional use, transposes Directive 2009/128/EC into national law. These objectives are pursued within the broader perspective of a national strategy for the sustainable use of plant protection products that does not undermine national agricultural competitiveness.
This NAP seeks to achieve high levels of human and environmental protection against potential risks associated with plant protection products while maintaining the economic viability of agricultural production and effective pest control. The achievement of the objectives set out is dependent upon the involvement and shared responsibility of all partners in ensuring that the actions and measures to be developed are effectively implemented and monitored, and upon the involvement of all professional plant protection product users. It is assumed that professional users will observe certain minimum requirements, failing which the success of the action to be taken will be compromised.
The effective promotion of viable agriculture, the sustainable use of plant protection products and adequate human health and environmental protection requires investment, enhanced implementation of the existing legal system and the effective application of standards and guidelines produced by the competent bodies, i.e. the environmental authorities, the national plant health authority, regional and local agricultural and environmental departments and farm support structures existing or to be set up for this purpose. The following three strategic axes have also been established in line with the major objectives of Law No 26/2013 to implement a policy to reduce the risks associated with the use of plant protection products: Strategic axis 1 – Protection of human health; Strategic axis 2 – Protection of the environment; Strategic axis 3 – Promotion of sustainable agricultural and forestry production systems