Plant protection products (PPPs): register as a professional user
If you’re a business, organisation or sole trader that uses PPPs and adjuvants professionally in Great Britain, register to comply with regulations.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Documents
Details
If you use plant protection products (PPPs) and any adjuvants professionally in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), you have a legal obligation to register under the Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020. Read more in the policy statement.
You are considered a professional user if you use PPPs in your work. This includes operators, technicians, employers and self-employed people, in all sectors.
Register using this form.
There’s a different form to register as a business that places PPPs, their ingredients or adjuvants on the market for professional use.
When to register
You must register within 3 months of starting business.
If you have not yet registered and your organisation or business has been using PPPs for more than 3 months, you must register as soon as possible.
Compliance and enforcement
By completing and sending in this form, you are notifying your competent authority. This is:
- the Secretary of State in England
- Scottish ministers in Scotland
- Welsh ministers in Wales
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will collect information from this form on behalf of the Scottish and Welsh Governments.
Regulators will take a proactive, risk-based approach. This approach will consider:
- the nature and scale of businesses
- past records of compliance
- the activities under their control
- the reliability and results of controls performed on the operator
PPPs and adjuvants
PPPs are used to control pests, weeds and diseases. Examples include:
- insecticides
- fungicides
- herbicides
- molluscicides
- plant growth regulators
PPPs can exist in many forms, such as solid granules, powders or liquids. They contain one or more active substances, co-formulated with other materials.
PPPs can be used with adjuvants. An adjuvant is a substance that enhances or is intended to enhance a PPP’s effectiveness. An adjuvant does not have significant pesticidal properties but is still subject to regulatory control.
Updates to this page
Published 31 March 2022Last updated 30 September 2022 + show all updates
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We’ve updated our policy statement and made improvements to the registration forms and guidance in response to user feedback. We’ve also updated information about when you must register.
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The registration deadline was 22 June 2022, but we are currently still accepting registrations.
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Updated the section 'Who your data will be shared with' in the Official Controls Regulation 2020 privacy notice.
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We've updated the registration form to include an additional question about assurance schemes that cover PPP use.
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We have clarified that you do not need to register addresses where you store or apply PPPs for clients on their land. We’ve also explained how seeds treated with PPPs should be considered when calculating the quantity of PPPs used in a typical year.
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We've removed the need to register if you rent out land where your tenant applies plant protection products and any adjuvants as part of their work.
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Added translation