Article 1 Subject matter, scope and objectives
1. This Regulation establishes a common framework for the systematic production of Community statistics on the placing on the market and use of those pesticides which are plant protection products, as defined in Article 2(a)(i). 2. The statistics shall apply to: — the annual amounts of pesticides placed on the market in accordance with Annex I, — the annual amounts of pesticides used in accordance with Annex II, 3. The statistics shall, in particular, together with other relevant data serve the purposes of Articles 4 and 15 of Directive 2009/128/EC.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply: (a) ‘pesticides’ means: (i) a plant protection product as defined in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009; (ii) a biocidal product as defined in Article 2(1) of Directive 98/8/EC; (b) ‘substances’ means substances as defined in point 2 of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, including active substances, safeners and synergists; (c) ‘active substances’ means active substances as referred to in Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009; (d) ‘safeners’ means safeners as referred to in Article 2(3)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009; (e) ‘synergists’ means synergists as referred to in Article 2(3)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009; (f) ‘placing on the market’ means placing on the market as defined in point 9 of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009; (g) ‘authorisation holder’ means authorisation holder as defined in point 24 of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009; (h) ‘agricultural use’ means any type of application of a plant protection product associated directly or indirectly with the production of plant products in the context of the economic activity of an agricultural holding; (i) ‘professional user’ means professional user as defined in point 1 of Article 3 of Directive 2009/128/EC; (j) ‘agricultural holding’ means agricultural holding as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods ( 12 ) .
Article 3 Data collection, transmission and processing
1. Member States shall collect the data necessary for the specification of the characteristics listed in Annex I on an annual basis and for the specification of the characteristics listed in Annex II in five-year periods by means of: — surveys, — information concerning the placing on the market and use of pesticides taking into account, in particular, the obligations pursuant to Article 67 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, — administrative sources, or, — a combination of these means, including statistical estimation procedures on the basis of expert judgements or models, 2. Member States shall transmit to the Commission (Eurostat) the statistical results, including confidential data, in accordance with the schedules and with the periodicity specified in Annexes I and II. Data shall be presented in accordance with the classification given in Annex III. 3. Member States shall transmit the data in electronic form, in conformity with an appropriate technical format to be adopted by the Commission (Eurostat) in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 6(2). 4. For reasons of confidentiality, the Commission (Eurostat) shall aggregate the data before publication in accordance with the chemical classes or categories of products indicated in Annex III, taking due account of the protection of confidential data at the level of individual Member State. The confidential data shall be used by national authorities and by the Commission (Eurostat) exclusively for statistical purposes, in accordance with Article 20 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009.
Article 4 Quality assessment
1. For the purpose of this Regulation, the quality criteria as laid down in Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 shall apply. 2. Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with reports on the quality of the data transmitted as referred to in Annexes I and II. The Commission (Eurostat) shall assess the quality of data transmitted.
Article 5 Implementing measures
1. The appropriate technical format for the transmission of data shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure referred to in Article 6(2). The Commission may, if necessary, modify requirements relating to the provision of the quality reports described in Section 6 of Annexes I and II. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 6(3). 2. The Commission shall adopt the definition of the ‘area treated’ as referred to in Section 2 of Annex II. That measure, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 6(3). 3. The Commission shall adapt the list of substances to be covered and their classification in categories of products and chemical classes as set out in Annex III on a regular basis and at least every five years. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Regulation, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 6(3).
Article 6 Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the European Statistical System Committee, established by Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 223/2009. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof. The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be three months. 3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
Article 7 Report
The Commission shall submit a report on the implementation of the Regulation to the European Parliament and the Council every five years. This report shall evaluate in particular the quality of data transmitted, as referred to in Article 4, the data collection methods, the burden on businesses, agricultural holdings and national administrations and the usefulness of these statistics in the context of the Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides in particular with regard to the objectives set out in Article 1. It shall, if appropriate, contain proposals designed to further improve data quality and data collection methods thereby improving the coverage and comparability of data and reducing the burden on businesses, agricultural holdings and national administrations. The first report shall be submitted by 31 December 2016.
Article 8 Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .