Provisions in the Regulation
The provisions on authorisations through mutual recognition can be found in Articles 40 to 42 in the Regulation.
A plant protection product can only be mutually recognised if it has been granted an authorisation in the reference Member State according to article 29 in the Regulation. The procedure of mutual recognition means that the authorisation holder of a plant protection product may apply for an authorisation for the same plant protection product, for the same use and under comparable agricultural practices in another Member State, according to Article 40.1. It is our understanding that this should be interpreted the following way:
- “The same plant protection product” means identical in terms of: Manufacturing process and composition of the formulation; Sources of the technical active substance, safeners and synergists, as well as co-formulants. Please note that an equivalent product is not considered to qualify as being the same plant protection product.
- “The same use” means that it is not possible to extend the use to additional crops other than those authorised by the reference Member State. It is however possible to limit the use to certain crops.
- “Comparable agricultural practices” means that an authorisation through mutual recognition can only be granted based on the prerequisites and conditions adopted by the reference Member State. This means that the application technique and time of application cannot be changed. The number of applications and dose rates can be reduced if efficacy data, the risk through dermal exposure (please see in the section "Health hazard") and the test concentrations for each technical property still supports the change.