Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Article 3 Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:

1.

‘professional user’ means any person who uses pesticides in the course of their professional activities, including operators, technicians, employers and self-employed people, both in the farming and other sectors;

2.

‘distributor’ means any natural or legal person who makes a pesticide available on the market, including wholesalers, retailers, vendors and suppliers;

3.

‘advisor’ means any person who has acquired adequate knowledge and advises on pest management and the safe use of pesticides, in the context of a professional capacity or commercial service, including private self-employed and public advisory services, commercial agents, food producers and retailers where applicable;

4.

‘pesticide application equipment’ means any apparatus specifically intended for the application of pesticides, including accessories that are essential for the effective operation of such equipment, such as nozzles, manometers, filters, strainers and cleaning devices for tanks;

5.

‘aerial spraying’ means application of pesticides from an aircraft (plane or helicopter);

6.

‘integrated pest management’ means careful consideration of all available plant protection methods and subsequent integration of appropriate measures that discourage the development of populations of harmful organisms and keep the use of plant protection products and other forms of intervention to levels that are economically and ecologically justified and reduce or minimise risks to human health and the environment. ‘Integrated pest management’ emphasises the growth of a healthy crop with the least possible disruption to agro-ecosystems and encourages natural pest control mechanisms;

7.

‘risk indicator’ means the result of a method of calculation that is used to evaluate risks of pesticides on human health and/or the environment;

8.

‘non-chemical methods’ means alternative methods to chemical pesticides for plant protection and pest management, based on agronomic techniques such as those referred to in point 1 of Annex III, or physical, mechanical or biological pest control methods;

9.

the terms ‘surface water’ and ‘groundwater’ have the same meaning as in Directive 2000/60/EC;

10.

‘pesticide’ means:

(a)

a plant protection product as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009;

(b)

a biocidal product as defined in Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 concerning the placing on the market of biocidal products(1).

(1)

OJ L 123, 24.4.1998, p. 1.