31 - Legal duties regarding plant health and plant protection products: expertise, diagnostics and enforcement principles

Programme manager:

Programme director:

Objective

Agroscope provides the federal and cantonal enforcement agencies with the services they require to conduct their activities in the areas of regulatory approval of plant protection products and biocides and prevention of the introduction and spread of plant pests and diseases in an appropriate, efficient and competent manner and in compliance with statutory requirements.

• Specific objectives

  • Evaluate plant protection products (PPPs) in the context of the approval process
  • Market control of plant protection products: scientific and technical support for cantons and relevant federal offices (FSVO and FOAG)
  • Assess agronomic concerns relating to biocide products on behalf of the FOAG
  • Agroscope Plant Health Service: provide scientific and technical advice and support, and coordinate phytosanitary diagnostics for the enforcement of the Plant Health Ordinance (PGesV) on behalf of the Swiss Federal Plant Protection Service (SPPS) with regard to particularly dangerous harmful organisms (quarantine organisms, protected area quarantine organisms, potential quarantine organisms and regulated non-quarantine organisms) as well as new harmful organisms, which may be regulated as harmful organisms.
  • Enforcement diagnostics: diagnostics and scientific expertise relating to particularly dangerous harmful organisms in line with plant health legislation
  • Operate the NRLs (National Reference Labs) in the context of the EU and EPPO (https://www.eppo.int/)
  • Develop principles and further develop methods and criteria for assessing PPPs and for risk management as part of the approval process at national and international level; further develop analytics / diagnostics and efficient work processes, develop diagnostic tools
  • Contribute to the prioritisation of PPP approval applications based on agronomic relevance so that immediate solutions can be made available to farmers
  • Contribute to estimating the environmental damage caused by quarantine organisms and alien species outside agriculture (third party).

Expected outcomes

The Swiss agricultural sector has access to a broad range of safe plant protection products; innovations are made available as rapidly as possible. Quarantine organisms in Switzerland cause less damage in agriculture and the environment. Thanks to the support of Agroscope, enforcement in the areas of plant health and plant protection products is carried out in an efficient, scientifically competent and appropriate manner in compliance with statutory regulations and in line with current scientific standards and findings.

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