Using pesticides and biocides

Do you need to control pests and weeds? If you use pesticides, such as plant protection products and biocides, you may need a licence or a permit. 

Which pesticides are there? 

There are various kinds of pesticides: 

• crop protection products help protect plants and crops in agriculture and horticulture against pests and diseases
• biocides are agents that work against bacteria, fungi, and pests such as insects or rodents
• biological pesticides (in Dutch), such as predatory mites or parasitic wasps, help control pests biologically 

Licence for chemical pesticides 

Plant protection products and biocides are chemical pesticides. If you use, sell, buy, or store professional chemical pesticides, you must have a chemical pesticide licence (in Dutch). You will have to attend a number of meetings on how to work safely with chemical protective equipment. You may also need a certificate of competence (Bewijs van vakbekwaamheid, in Dutch) for your licence. A chemical pesticide licence is valid for 5 years. 

You do not need a licence if the pesticide you use, sell, buy, or store is not a professional pesticide. The label will tell you whether it is a professional pesticide. 

Permit for biological pesticides 

Biological pesticides are natural enemies of diseases, pests, and weeds. For example, predatory mites, parasitic wasps, or other predators and parasites. You may only use biological pesticides that are listed in Appendix VIIb of the Environment Regulation (in Dutch). Is the biological pesticide not listed in this appendix? Then you must apply for an environment and planning permit (in Dutch) via the Omgevingsloket online service counter (in Dutch). 

Which pesticides are you allowed to use? 

You may only use or sell pesticides that are included on the list of permitted products. These are pesticides the Board for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Products and Biocides (Ctgb) has approved. As a producer you can apply for authorisation of new pesticides to Ctgb. Approved pesticides receive an approval number (5 numbers and the letter N) which should be printed on the packaging. 

Banned pesticides 

If a plant protection product is not on the Ctgb's list of authorised plant protection products or in the ECHA database, it is a prohibited pesticide and you are not allowed to use it. 

Use of neonicotinoids 

A number of pesticides are banned for use in open cultivation with crops which might attract bees. You are not allowed to use the following neonicotinoids:

• clothianidin
• thiamethoxam
• imidacloprid 

However, you may use these substances in some cases, for example in greenhouses, after flowering, or on winter cereals. The label states how and on which crop you may use a pesticide with neonicotinoids. 

Proof of professional competence 

Are you a professional pest controller? You must have proof of professional competence for controlling pests and wood-boring organisms (Beheersing plaagdieren en houtaantastende organismen). You can apply for a certificate of competence to the Register for Pest Control, Environment and Safety (Register Plaagdierbescherming, Milieu en Veiligheid RPMV, in Dutch). You must follow a training and pass an exam. The certificate is valid for 5 years, you then need to renew your certificate. To be eligible for renewal, you must follow refresher trainings and prove that you worked according to the rules for the last 5 years. 

Crop protection monitoring system 

If you use professional plant protection products you must have a crop protection monitoring system (in Dutch). You must keep track of all measures taken each growing season. You record, for instance, the use of biological pesticides or mechanical weed control. This way you can check the effectiveness of your measures. And it allows the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (Nederlandse Voedsel en Warenautoriteit, NVWA) to check if you keep to the rules. 

Reducing spread of crop protection agents 

You must prevent your plant protection products from spreading into nature as much as possible: 

• Do you cultivate crops in greenhouses? You must remove at least 95% of the crop protection agents from your wastewater (in Dutch).
• Do you cultivate crops outdoors? You must take measures to reduce the spread of crop protection agents (drift) by 75 to 99 percent (in Dutch). You must do this for your whole plot, even if a ditch splits your plot into 2 parts.

Cleaning packaging material and equipment 

You must clean out the packaging of crop protection products immediately after use (in Dutch). You do this in the prescribed way and with the prescribed equipment. You must also clean the spraying equipment correctly. You must make sure the water you use for cleaning and rinsing does not end up in the sewage system or in a waterway. You must dispose of packaging and plant protection product residue as industrial waste or small chemical waste (klein chemisch afval, kca). 

Spraying equipment inspection 

Do you use spraying equipment and machines for spraying crop protection products? You need to have the equipment and machines tested at least once every 3 years by a recognised inspection company (in Dutch). 

Soil disinfection 

You can disinfect soil to eradicate plant diseases. You can do so in several ways and this is allowed for a number of crop groups. Do you plan to chemically disinfect the soil (in Dutch)? You must report chemical soil disinfection at least 3 weeks in advance to the NVWA. You report each plot you want to disinfect separately.