Deal on agricultural statistics secures annual data collection on the use of pesticides

Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement today on agricultural input and output statistics, aiming to unify the collection of agricultural data in the EU.

Under the “statistics on agricultural input and output” proposal (SAIO), Member States will be collecting high quality harmonised data on agricultural production. The statistical data, especially the data on the use of pesticides in the EU, on organic farming, on fertilisers and on the use of antimicrobials, will be essential for reaching the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategy targets.

Parliament managed to guarantee that data about pesticides should include active substances placed on the market and used in agricultural activities by crop and area treated and that they will be disseminated annually. The first set of data will be collected in 2026 and disseminated in 2028.

Thanks to the European Parliament, the number of statistics collected from organic farmers will be increased as well, so that the development of organic production in the EU can be better monitored.

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Parliament’s lead negotiator Petros Kokkalis (The Left, EL) said: “The provisional deal we reached today brings us closer to a more sustainable food system in the EU. With the new rules, we will have at our disposal for the first time an efficient and effective tool to monitor the ‘Farm to Fork’ and ‘Biodiversity’ targets and the performance of the Common Agricultural Policy through high quality, harmonised, coherent and comparable statistical data. The European Parliament secured that Member States will be required to collect and report data on the use of pesticides annually. This is a prerequisite for minimising their risk and impact on the environment and human health as well as ensuring food security. I am confident that the new rules will be a key tool to support the European Green Deal objectives and the transition towards multifunctional agriculture capable of producing safe and sufficient food while providing positive environmental outputs.”

Next steps

The regulation now needs to be formally adopted by the Parliament and the Council before it is published in the EU Official Journal and enter into force 20 days after.

Background

European statistics on agricultural inputs and outputs are currently collected based on a number of legal acts, which creates inconsistencies across statistical domains. The proposed Regulation should replace those legal acts so that the data collected are harmonised, comparable and consistent.

O artigo foi publicado originalmente em European Parliament.