Inspection of sprayers in Germany – results and experience over the past decades

Voluntary inspections of field sprayers have been offered in the Federal Republic of Germany since the end of the sixties and for air-assisted sprayers for orchards, vineyards and hops since the mid eighties. As a result, Germany has gathered plenty of experience with the inspection of plant protection equipment. The inspections were based on uniform inspection requirements (BBA Guideline 1-3.2.1) and are carried out in about 1000 recognised workshops in about 2000 places. Workshops must be officially approved and use in most cases test facilities which have been approved by the BBA. Up to 1993 around 30 000 sprayers were inspected every year; in the meantime -after the introduction of the obligatory inspection of field sprayers in 1993- the number of inspected sprayers has increased to about 63 000 per year. The inspection fee for field sprayers increased from 40 € per inspection in the year 1992 to 130 € in the year 1994 and to at last 145 € in the year 2003. Dripping nozzles, faulty manometers and unsatisfactory distribution were often the reason for not meeting minimum requirements. Future activities will be harmonising the national sprayer inspection with the European norm EN 13790.