Amendments to the record-keeping requirements for the use of plant protection products
New requirements have been introduced for the record-keeping of the use of plant protection products. Professional users of plant protection products shall include in their records the registration number of the product, the name of the target crop according to the EPPO code, the spatial data of the area to be treated and the type of use.
An EU Regulation, which entered into force at the beginning of 2026, introduced changes to the record-keeping of plant protection product use. The registration number of the product, the name of the crop in accordance with the EPPO code, the spatial data of the treated area and the type of use shall be added to records made in 2026.
The previous recording requirements remain unchanged, i.e. the name of the plant protection product, the date of use, the dose, the area of use and the treated crop are still entered in the records.
Type of use and other details
The type of use to be included in the records describes the environment in which the plant protection product is used. Documentation shall include one of the following options:
land treatment (e.g. agricultural, railway, forest)
treatment in enclosed spaces (e.g. empty silos, permanent greenhouses);
treatment of seeds or propagating material (e.g. seed potatoes);
In addition, the time and growth rate of the crop (BBCH) shall be recorded in the records if they are specified in the instructions for use of the product, e.g. to protect pollinators or to limit the time of use. Spatial data shall include the coordinates, agricultural parcel identifier or address data on a case-by-case basis.
Further information will be available on the Tukes website in May 2026
Tukes will publish instructions for recording the name and growth rate (BBCH) of the EPPO codes as soon as possible. The guidelines are published on the tukes.fi website and in learning materials related to the plant protection certificate.
“The aim is that changes related to the record-keeping of the use of plant protection products would create the least amount of additional work for users. For example, spatial data is often already available in farm management systems and forestry machinery systems. In the future, an effort will also be made to obtain other necessary information directly in the systems,” says Pauliina Laitinen, Head of Chemical Risk Assessment Unit at Tukes.
“Although the new record-keeping requirements for the use of plant protection products are already in force, the first step in monitoring is to advise users of plant protection products on the new record-keeping requirements. Any shortcomings in the new record-keeping requirements in 2026 will be pointed out as part of the supervision, says Tiina Koivula, Senior Specialist at the Finnish Food Authority.
Additional time for the introduction of electronic record-keeping
According to the EU Regulation, plant protection products must be recorded electronically in a machine-readable format in the future.
“In Finland, the aim is to take advantage of the possibility laid down in the regulation to postpone the introduction of electronic record-keeping until 2027,” says Tove Jern, Senior Specialist at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The amendment to the record-keeping requirements is based on the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU 2023/564). The reform will improve the quality of the statistics on the use of plant protection products and comparability between EU countries. At the same time, risk management and environmental protection measures can be targeted more accurately than at present.
Tukes provides professional users with instructions and advice on the use records of plant protection products. The Finnish Food Authority instructs the inspectors of the Economic Development Centres to monitor and supervise the use of plant protection products. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is responsible for the preparation and development of legislation on plant protection products.
More information:
Pauliina Laitinen, Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Tukes), [email protected], tel. +358 29 5052 171
Tiina Koivula, The Finnish Food Authority, [email protected], tel. +358 29 5204 449
Tove Jern, The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, [email protected], tel. +358 29 5162 318
