The Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW - Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft) is the licensing office for pesticides in Switzerland. Together with the Federal Office for Health (BAG), the Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU), the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), and the agricultural research institute (Agroscope) it formulates scientific foundations for making decisions with regard to the approval of pesticides. The efficacy of products as well as the safety with respect to people and the environment are the central aspects to be considered during the evaluation. Approved pesticides are published by the BLW (Federal Office for Agriculture) in the form of a pesticide directory database.

Agroscope examines plant protection products regarding efficacy, residues, environmental behaviour and ecotoxicology. Only sufficiently efficient and necessary products are registered. Their use is only authorized if residues are reduced to a minimum. Their behavior in the air, the soil and in water is examined. The risks for a wide range of non targeted organisms (crustaceans, fish, worms, birds, ..) and beneficials (honey bugs, predatory mites, ..) are estimated. Some products need restrictions in order to reduce risks in some crops to an acceptable level.

Agroscope publishes directories for fruit, wine, berry and vegetable farming that cover the most typical requirements. They specify when the pesticide can be used best against which pests, and at which concentration. They also provide information on efficacy, toxicity with regard to bees and side-effects on beneficial organisms.

These directories have been taken from a variety of publications, and were developed by Agroscope or in collaboration with Agroscope and agricultural professional organisations. They are stored here as a PDF file or link. The agriculture lists are published by Agridea and are only available in hardcopy form.