Introduction paper : Session 3: The inspections shall verify that pesticide application equipment satisfies the relevant requirements (according article 8/4)

The inspection of pesticide application equipment (PAE) according to Annex II of the Framework Directive requires mandated EN standards (article 8/4).

Standards are needed for all pesticide application equipment used by professionals. They should detail the requirements to be fulfilled during the inspection procedure to ensure the protection of health and safety and the environment. Standards for inspection of pesticide application equipment already exist for field crop sprayers and air-assisted sprayers for bush and tree crops (EN 13790-1 and 2), which are the main types of equipment used by professionals. However, concerns exist with this standard in so far as it specifies that the measurement of transverse distribution can be achieved using two different methods (i.e. measurement on patternator or flow rate measurement) which can lead to different results for one same sprayer.