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Plant Protection Products and their Residues

The Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues (PPR) provides scientific advice on the risk assessment of pesticides for operators, workers, consumers and the environment. The Panel develops and reviews guidance documents on the risk assessment of pesticides. This work supports the evaluation of active substances used in pesticides, which is carried out Rapporteur Member States and peer reviewed by EFSA staff.

PPR Panel Members are scientists from across Europe with expertise in:

  • Active substances – chemical and microbiological (viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc)
  • Physical-chemical properties (of plant protection products and their active substances)
  • Methods of analysis (of plant protection products and of their residues)
  • Toxicology and regulatory toxicology
  • Non dietary exposure and risk assessment (of plant protection products)
  • Dietary exposure and risk assessment (of residues of plant protection products in food and feed commodities)
  • Environmental fate and behaviour (of plant protection products)
  • Ecotoxicology
  • Ecology and population dynamics
  • Ecological/Environmental exposure and risk assessment.

Panel Members

PPR Panel Members, 2018-2024

Panel composition and Declarations of Interests.

Previous Panel Members

2015-2018

Chair: Colin Ockleford
Vice-chair: Theodorus Brock; Susanne Hougaard
Members: Paulien Adriaanse; Philippe Berny; Sabine Duquesne; Sandro Grilli; Antonio F. Hernandez-Jerez; Michael Klein; Thomas Kuhl; Ryszard Laskowski; Kyriaki Machera; Olavi Pelkonen; Silvia Pieper; Rob Smith; Michael Stemmer; Ingvar Sundh; Ivana Teodorovic; Aaldrik Tiktak; Christopher John Topping; Gerrit Wolterink

2012-2015

Chair: Bernadette Ossendorp 
Vice-chair: Theodorus Brock; Susanne Hougaard Bennekou
Members: Alf Aagaard; Ettore Capri; Sabine Duquesne; Metka Filipic; Antonio F. Hernandez-Jerez; Karen Ildico Hirsch-Ernst; Michael Klein; Thomas Kuhl; Ryszard Laskowski; Matthias Liess; Alberto Mantovani; Colin Ockleford; Daniel Pickford, until July 2014; ; Robert Smith; Paulo Sousa; Ingvar Sundh; Aaldrik Tiktak; Ton Van Der Linden

2009-2012

Chair: Anthony Hardy
Vice-chair: Robert Luttik; Angelo Moretto, until 20/01/2011; Susanne Hougaard Bennekou, as of 21/09/2011
Members: Anne Alix, until 13/04/2010; Jos Boesten; Claudia Bolognesi; Theodorus Brock, as of 15/01/2010; Ettore Capri; Michael Klein, as of 12/05/2010; Andrew Hart; Karen Ildico Hirsch-Ernst; Kyriaki Machera, as of 02/04/2011; Bernadette Ossendorp; Annette Petersen; Yolanda Pico; Andreas Schaeffer; Paulo Sousa; Walter Steurbaut; Anita Strömberg; Maria Tasheva; Ton Van Der Linden; Christiane Vleminckx

The Declarations of Interests and CVs of previous Panel members are available upon interestmanagement [at] efsa.europa.eu (request).

Pesticides peer-review experts meetings

The Pesticides Peer Review Unit holds expert consultations on scientific and technical issues related to the peer review of a substance. They involve scientific experts nominated by Member States. These experts represent the following organisations:

Member States organisations

  • Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (Austria)
  • Federal Public Service Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment (Belgium)
  • Scientific Institute of Public Health (Belgium)
  • Sciensano (Belgium)
  • Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Risk Assessment Center on Food Chain (Bulgaria)
  • Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (Bulgaria)
  • Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food (Croatia)
  • Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health (Croatia)
  • Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment (Cyprus)
  • Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (Czech Republic)
  • National Institute of Public Health (Czech Republic)
  • Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark, Environmental Protection Agency (Denmark)
  • Estonian Agricultural Board (Estonia)
  • Finnish Safety and Chemicals Agency (Finland)
  • National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (France)
  • French Ministry of Agriculture and Food (France)
  • Federal Environmental Agency (Germany)
  • Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (Germany)
  • Julius Kühn-Institute (Germany)
  • Federal Institute of Risk Assessment (Germany)
  • Benaki Phytopathological Institute (Greece)
  • Ministry of Rural Development and Food (Greece)
  • National Food Chain Safety Office (Hungary)
  • Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Pesticide Registration and Control Divisions (Ireland)
  • Ministry of Health (Italy)
  • Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Italy)
  • Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Italy)
  • ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco (Italy)
  • Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy)
  • State Plant Protection Service (Latvia)
  • State Plant Service under the Ministry of Agriculture (Lithuania)
  • Administration des services techniques de l'agriculture (Luxembourg)
  • Board for the Authorisation of Plant Protection Products and Biocides (Netherlands)
  • Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (Netherlands)
  • Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Norway)
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Poland)
  • National Institute of Public Health - National Institute of Hygiene (Poland)
  • Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute (Poland)
  • Direcção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (Portugal)
  • National Institute of Public Health (Romania)
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Romania)
  • National Institute for Research and Development in Environmental Protection (Romania)
  • Ministry of the Environment, National Agency for Environmental Protection (Romania)
  • Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (Slovakia)
  • Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
  • Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture (Slovakia)
  • Water Research Institute (Slovakia)
  • University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Kosice (Slovakia)
  • Institute of Apiculture (Slovakia)
  • Agricultural Institute of Slovenia (Slovenia)
  • National Institute of Public Health (Slovenia)
  • Slovenian Institute of Hop Research and Brewing (Slovenia)
  • Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for food safety, veterinary sector and plant protection (Slovenia)
  • Swedish Food Agency (Sweden)
  • Swedish Chemicals Agency (Sweden)

In line with the Decision of the Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority on Competing Interest Management the submission of an Annual Declaration of Interest (ADoI) is compulsory for Peer Review Governmental Experts.

Expert consultations are divided into the following groups (each consultation involves a selection of experts from the relevant list of members):

Physical & Chemical Properties

Mammalian Toxicology

For minutes related to the Endocrine Disruptors properties please refer also to the meeting minutes in the Ecotoxicology section.

Residues

Fate and Behaviour

Ecotoxicology

For minutes related to the Endocrine Disruptors properties please refer also to the meeting minutes in the Mammalian Toxicology section.

Micro-organisms

Dates and draft discussion points

Pesticide Peer Review planned meetings 2024

2024 meetings:

Previous meetings:

Networks

What are EFSA's networks?

EFSA’s networks consist of nationally appointed EU Member State organisations with expertise in the fields covered by the network. Representatives of the Commission and of other organisations (including those from outside the EU) with specific expertise may also be invited to participate in the work of EFSA Networks.

Networks are chaired by EFSA and supported by relevant EFSA units. Their aim is to facilitate scientific cooperation in the field of EFSA’s mission by:

Pesticide Steering Committee sub working group Bee Calculator

The members of the PSC sub working group Bee Calculator were nominated by the Member States participating in the PSC.

Pesticide Steering Committee sub working group MRL procedures

The members of the PSC sub working group MRL procedures were nominated by the Member States participating in the PSC.

Pesticide Steering Committee sub working group Risk Assessment on Bees

The members of the PSC sub working group Risk Assessment on Bees were nominated by the Member States participating in the PSC.

Pesticide Steering Network (PSN)

In September 2008, EFSA set up the Pesticide Steering Network. It was established to manage and plan the overall pesticide risk assessment and consider ways to further streamline the process. The main goals of the network are to:

  • plan and monitor the risk assessment process;
  • integrate the risk assessment and MRL setting processes;
  • coordinate with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA);
  • give advice on the prioritisation in the development and the updating of risk assessment guidance documents.

Pesticide Steering Network on consultation for the corrigendum of the Aquatic Guidance Document (EFSA PPR Panel, 2013)

The members of the Pesticide Steering Network on consultation for the corrigendum of the Aquatic Guidance Document (EFSA PPR Panel, 2013) were nominated by the Member States participating in the PSN, including two participants on behalf of EFSA PPR panel.

Pesticide Steering Network on consultation on Draft Guidance of the PPR Panel on Residue Definition for Dietary Risk Assessment

The members of the Pesticide Steering Network on consultation on Draft Guidance of the PPR Panel on Residue Definition for Dietary Risk Assessment were nominated by the Member States participating in the PSN, including a participant on behalf of EFSA PPR panel.

Pesticide Steering Network sub working group IUCLID HYPERCARE

The members of the PSN sub working group IUCLID HYPERCARE were nominated by the Member States participating in the PSN and by the applicants owners of the substances included within the scope of the EFSA IUCLID HYPERCARE programme.

Pesticide Steering Network – IUCLID sub-group

Working groups

Azole-resistant Aspergillus – risk factors, prevention and control

Cumulative Risk Assessment (CRA) of pesticides

Developing IATA case studies on Developmental Neurotoxicity

Effect models in environmental risk assessment

Endocrine Disruptors

Historical Control Data

Microbial pesticides

Toxicological properties and MRL of acetamiprid and its metabolites

Update of OPEX Guidance and calculator

Closed working groups

Acetamiprid and flupyradifurone

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Adverse Outcome Pathways AOP

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Aged Soil Adsorption

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Amphibian reptile opinion

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Aquatic ecotoxicology

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Bee Guidance Revision

Bee risk assessment

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BEEHAVE evaluation

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Consultation Group on endocrine disruption guidance

  • EFSA has invited members of the Consultation Group to submit declarations of interest but, with the exception of stakeholder experts acting in a personal capacity, members are not obliged to do so.
    For a full list of EFSA Member State and stakeholder experts taking part in the Consultation Group, please see here.
No meetings held

Coverage of bats by the current pesticide risk assessment for birds and mammals

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Cumulative assessment groups (CAGs) for nervous system and thyroid and uncertainty analysis

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Cumulative assessment groups of pesticides

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Dermal absorption guidance

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Developing an EFSA guidance document for evaluating laboratory and field dissipation studies to obtain DegT50 values

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Developing an EFSA guidance document for predicting environmental concentrations of substances in soil

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Developing an EFSA guidance document on clustering and ranking of emissions of plant protection products from protected crops

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Developmental neurotoxicity of acetamiprid and imidacloprid

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EFSA working group on dermal absorption guidance

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Epidemiological studies in pesticide risk assessment

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European Commission request to assess new scientific studies on dermal absorption

Available soon

Experimental toxicology data of pesticides and their potential link to Parkinson's disease and childhood leukaemia

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FOCUS surface water repair action

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Glyphosate Peer Review - Renewal Assessment

Good modelling practice

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Groundwater Monitoring studies

In vitro metabolism

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Joint ECHA/EC-JRC/EFSA taskforce on endocrine disruption guidance

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Non-target arthropods and in-soil risk assessment - In soil

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Non-target arthropods and in-soil risk assessment - NTA

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Non-target terrestrial plant risk assessment

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Operator, worker, resident and bystander exposure guidance

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OPEX Guidance

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Pesticides in foods for infants and young children

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Preparing a scientific opinion on the FERA guidance proposal guidance on how aged sorption studies for pesticides should be conducted, analysed and used in regulatory assessments

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Preparing two scientific opinions on the report of FOCUS ground water (2009)

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Probabilistic methodology mandate

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Pseudomonas chlororaphis

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Pyrethroid common metabolites

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Relevance of dissimilar mode of action for cumulative risk assessment

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Revision of the EFSA (2009) Guidance Document Risk assessment for Birds and Mammals

Scientific guidance on residue definition

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Sediment effect assessment

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Setting of health based reference values for metabolites of terbuthylazine

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TK/TD and simple food chain models for aquatic organisms

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Toxicological relevance of pesticide metabolites

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Transition metals

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