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A spray record answers five questions: which product, when, how much, on what area and on which crop. That list is written into law in Great Britain and in the European Union, and a longer version of it into US federal rules. The record also has to name a product that is actually authorised, which is where the MAPP number comes in.

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The Law, In Plain Words

If you apply plant protection products as part of your work you are a professional user. Three instruments then apply to you in Great Britain. You must keep a record of every application. Article 67 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, retained in Great Britain, says a professional user keeps records “containing the name of the plant protection product, the time and the dose of application, the area and the crop where the plant protection product was used”, for at least three years, and makes them available to the competent authority on request [3]. Third parties such as water companies or residents can ask the authority to see them [3]. Regulation 19 of The Plant Protection Products Regulations 2011 makes a breach an offence [2]. You must be trained, and your sprayer must be tested. The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012 require anyone using a professional product to hold a certificate of competence (regulation 8). Application equipment other than handheld sprayers is inspected on a cycle: a new machine within five years of purchase, then every three to six years by type, and every three years for boom sprayers over three metres (regulations 11 and 12). Products are stored and their remnants handled safely (regulation 17). HSE enforces (regulation 19), a breach is an offence (regulation 24) and a conviction can cost you the certificate [1][2]. You must be on the register. The Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020 require anyone using professional products in their work to notify the competent authority of their name, activities and premises (regulation 5). A new business registers within three months of starting. Failing to notify, obstructing an inspector or giving false information is an offence with a fine on summary conviction (regulation 15) [4][5]. A MAPP number is the Ministerially Approved Pesticide Product number. HSE allocates it at a product’s first commercial authorisation. It is printed on the label and, with the trade name, is the main identifier of a product [6]. HSE’s databases list the professional products authorised in Great Britain and Northern Ireland [8]. The MAPP number is the check that the product in the record is one HSE has authorised.

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Where It Applies

The five-item record is an EU rule that Great Britain kept at exit, so a grower in the EU keeps the same record under the same article. The United States asks for more items, keeps them for less time and splits the duty between two agencies. Product authorisation follows the same pattern: HSE in Great Britain, each member state’s authority under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 in the EU, and the EPA registration number in the US.

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What AgriHub360 Keeps

A spray is logged in the field as it happens. The entry holds the product name, the date and time, the dose, the area and the crop. Those are the five items Article 67 names, in Great Britain and in the EU [3]. At entry the product is checked against the MAPP register. The MAPP number on the label is matched to HSE’s database and the approval status found is stored with the entry [6][8]. The log is kept for the period the regime that applies to the field sets, and exports as a PDF. The One Compliance Vault bundles it with the nitrogen record for an inspection. A spray that also serves an SFI action is attached to that action as evidence in SFI 2026 Evidence.
Cartoon of a product bottle whose label number is matched against a row in the approval register, with a green tick.

The number on the product label is matched to a row in the register and ticked.

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References

  1. legislation.gov.uk. The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/1657.
  2. HSE. Guidance on the requirements of the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012.
  3. legislation.gov.uk. Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, Article 67, as retained in Great Britain.
  4. legislation.gov.uk. The Official Controls (Plant Protection Products) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/552.
  5. HSE. Register work involving pesticides.
  6. HSE. Ministerially approved pesticide product (MAPP) numbers.
  7. HSE. Responsibility for pesticides.
  8. HSE. Pesticides databases.
  9. European Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. Approval of active substances, safeners and synergists under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009.
  10. European Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. Sustainable use of pesticides, Directive 2009/128/EC.
  11. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 40 CFR Part 170, Worker Protection Standard.
  12. US Environmental Protection Agency. Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS).
  13. Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. 7 CFR 110.3, Records, retention, and access to records.
  14. USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. Understanding Federal Pesticide Recordkeeping.