WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/FRA/70 
26 September 2007 
 (07-4052) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   French 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  FRANCE
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:  
Ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Pêche  (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries) 
Direction Générale de la Forêt et des Affaires Rurales / Sous-Direction de l’Environnement et 
de la Ruralite / Bureau des Sols et de l’Eau  (Directorate-General of Forestry and Rural Affairs / 
Sub-Directorate of the Environment and Rurality / Soil and Water Management Bureau) 
78, rue de Varenne 75 349 PARIS 07 SP Tel.: +(0)1 49 55 59 27 Fax: +(0)1 49 55 59 87 
E-mail: kristell.cohu@agriculture.gouv.fr 
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers and E-mail and website 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding 
the notification shall be indicated if different from above:  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [  X ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in  addition, where applicable):   Sprayers (new and used) 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Avis aux professionnels du 
machinisme concernant l’application des articles D. 256-1 à D. 256-10 du code rural et l’application 
de l’arrêté du XX XX XX pris en application du a) de l’article D. 256-10 du code rural  (Notice to 
mechanized equipment professionals with regard to the implementation of Article s D. 256-1 to 
D. 256-10 of the Rural Code and the implementation of the Order of  XX XX XX implementing 
Article D. 256-10(a) of the Rural Code ). 
6. Description of content:  Pursuant to Article 41 of the Law on Water and Aquatic Environments 
(Loi sur l'eau et les milieux aquatiques , LEMA), No. 2006-1772 of 30 December 2006, new or 
used sprayers sold by mechanized equipment pr ofessionals for use within national territory are 
required to comply with provisions designed to reduce environmental and public health risks. 
 The implementing legislation for this Ar ticle was developed on the basis of the 
principles of the EC doctrine of the "New Approach":  an Order, which is being notified at the 
same time as this draft notice, lays down the requirements for boom sprayers and tree and shrub 
sprayers, new or used, while the references  of standards establishing the presumption of 
conformity with these requirements are set out in this draft notice for the Official Journal of the French Republic (harmonized European standards). G/TBT/N/FRA/70 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  
 
 The standards specified in this draft no tice for the Official Journal establish the 
presumption of conformity with the requirements for boom sprayers and tr ee and shrub sprayers, 
new or used, laid down in the Projet d’arrêté  pris en application du a) de l’article D. 256-10 du 
code rural  (Draft Order implementing Article D. 256-10( a) of the Rural Code), which is being 
notified at the same time as this notice.  These requirements seek to reduce the environmental 
and public health risks posed by plant protection pr oducts.  In particular, they serve to prevent 
contamination of the drinking water supply network,  to limit contamination of the soil, the air or 
a body of water as a result either of product loss during the use of equipment or of effluent 
generated by such use, and to ensure that pr oducts are applied evenly, thereby preventing 
localized over-application, and that sprayers are in good working order. 
  These requirements form part of the implementation of priority action under the 
Interministerial Plan for reducing pesticide-related risks 2006-2009 ( Plan interministériel de 
réduction des risques liés aux pesticides 2006-2009 , PIRRP), published in June 2006 by the 
Ministries responsible for ecology, agriculture, health and consumption in response to the 
following findings:  in 2004, in terms of the quantity of substances sold, France ranked third on 
the world market for phytosanitary products and first on the European market (75,100 tonnes of 
active substances sold, 90 per cent of which being fo r agricultural use);  it also ranked fourth in 
Europe per cultivated hectare (excluding grass-c overed surfaces).  The use of these substances 
can generate direct or indirect risks for hum ans (both users and the general public, who are 
exposed via the air, water and food) and for ecosystems (biodiversity).  The information 
available demonstrates: 
 - Generalized contamination of water by pesticides. The requirement under the 
Water Framework Directive with rega rd to achieving good ecological and 
chemical status by 2015 has currently on ly been met by a third of watercourses 
and half of groundwater.  The quality of the water supply is, on the other hand, 
good as far as pesticides are concerned, with 99 per cent of analyses being 
standards-compliant; 
  - the presence of certain pesticides in other compartments of the environment:  in 
soils, with, for example, a high persistence of organochlorines which have been banned for over 10 years, and in the air; 
 
 - potential effects on human health, as shown by epidemiological studies, which 
may be chronic (for example, congenita l malformations, cancers, lymphomas) or 
acute, but without it being systematically possible to prove the causal link.  By way of example, farmers are observed to have a lower incidence of cancer than 
other sectors of the population, but a hei ghtened risk exists for certain specific 
types of cancer. 
  At Community level, a similar finding led th e European Union (EU) to adopt a series of 
measures designed to reduce the risks of pesticide use to the environment and human health and, 
more generally, to achieve a more sustainable use of pesticides as well as a significant overall 
reduction in risks and of the use of pesticid es (cf. the Communication from the Commission of 
12 July 2006, entitled:  "A Thematic Stra tegy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides" 
[COM(2006) 372]).  One element of this stra tegy is the measure making it mandatory for 
pesticide application equipment to meet envir onmental requirements before being placed on the 
market.  This particular measure was not, however, incorporated into the Proposal for a Directive G/TBT/N/FRA/70 
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  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where
applicable:  (cont'd) 
of 12 July 2006 establishing a framework for Comm unity action to achieve a sustainable use of 
pesticides, which is currently under review by the European Council and the European 
Parliament.  The Commission will subsequently pr opose another directive in this field which 
could amend Directive 2006/42/EC of the Eur opean Parliament and of the Council of 
17 May 2006 on machinery, and amending Directive 95/16/EC.   Compliance with the time-fra me established in Article 102.I of the Law on Water and 
Aquatic Environments (LEMA), No. 2006-1772 of 30 December 2006, by the French Parliament 
with regard to the entry into force of this m easure (1 January 2009) and with the time-limits 
established in the Water Framework Directive ( 2000/60/EC) for achieving good water status (by 
2015) requires the prompt adoption of a domest ic regulation, pending the adoption, at 
Community level, of a directive harmonizing th e environmental requirements applicable to 
pesticide application equipment. 
 
 This draft regulation has been well received  by the agricultural sector, which considers 
that its impact on farmers' income will be minimal.   Compliance with this new regulation will not present any difficulties for mechanized 
equipment professionals. 
  The notice for the Official Journal states th at compliance with the requirements laid 
down in the draft Order is automatic for all new sprayers manufactured in accordance with standard NF EN 12 761-1, -2 and -3 (Septe mber 2001):  Sprayers and liquid fertilizer 
distributors.  Environmental protection.  This st andard is known to sprayer manufacturers and its 
practical applicability has already been demonstrat ed.  Furthermore, the fulfilment of certain 
specific requirements under these standards, complia nce with which requires structural changes 
to a sprayer (unless already implemented), is required only as of 1 January 2011, to afford 
manufacturers sufficient time to bring their production into line.  
 With regard to used sprayers, only the re quirements corresponding to the provisions of
this standard which do not involve any struct ural changes and which present the greatest 
environmental benefit have been incorporated  in the measure in order to ensure its 
proportionality.  
8. Relevant documents:   Décret relatif aux prescriptions applicables aux matériels, vendus neufs 
ou d’occasion, destinés à l’application de produits phytosanitaires  (Decree establishing the 
requirements for new or used equipment designed for the application of phytosanitary products), 
notified in document G/TBT/N/FRA/68.  
 Arrêté pris en application du a) de  l’article D. 256-10 du code rural  (Order 
implementing Article D. 256-10(a) of the Rural Code) , notified in document G/TBT/N/FRA/69.  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  
Proposed date of entry into force:  April 2007 
1 January 2009 
10. Final date for comments:   - G/TBT/N/FRA/70 
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  11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax numbers, 
E-mail and website addresses, if available, of other body:  
 National enquiry point 
 CINORTECH 
 AFNOR  11 avenue Francis Pressensé  93571 Saint Denis La Plaine Cedex