Revised National Action Plan has been published by Defra
21 March 2025
Revised National Action Plan (NAP) for the Sustainable Use of Plant Protection Products published by Defra in association with the three devolved nations
The Voluntary Initiative (VI) welcomes the publication of the revised National Action Plan.
The NAP set's out three main objectives which are broken down into 19 Actions:
Objective 1: Actions to encourage uptake of IPM (Integrated Pest Management)
Action 1
Increase awareness and knowledge of IPM strategies through the promotion of decision support and planning tools, practical guidance and access to learning and evidence from research and development.
Action 2
Work with farming advice services to improve the current IPM advice offer, so that it supports increased IPM uptake.
Action 3
Work with training providers to review the IPM offer to identify any gaps and areas of improvement to support IPM uptake.
Action 4
Explore opportunities for IPM facilitation funding for farmer, grower and forester led networks.
Action 5
Gather more data on IPM and pesticide usage in the amateur and amenity sectors to better understand use, how these contribute to overall pesticide load and potential IPM approaches.
Action 6
Review regulatory barriers to innovation, particularly around precision application technologies: explore the potential benefits and drawbacks of pesticide application by drones and consider whether rules and guidance need to be amended.
Action 7
Develop an internal evidence-based horizon scanning capability to identify, understand and mitigate pest control gaps.
Action 8
Continue to provide additional support to biopesticide applications.
Action 9
Consider how we can make improvements to the arrangements for GB biopesticides to reduce burdens without compromising environmental and human health standards.
Action 10
Continue to direct funding to facilitate applied research and development on priority areas where alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides are lacking, particularly in major crops.
Objective 2: Actions to set targets, measures and indicators to monitor progress
Action 11
Contact organisations responsible for collecting the underlying data behind the indicators included in the previous NAP to determine any potential to update, improve or replace the existing indicators.
Action 12
All 4 governments to hold discussions with internal and external partners, for example HSE and UK Environmental Regulators, to agree an indicator framework, and develop a plan for production of monitoring reports (on who will input, how they will be reviewed and quality assured).
Action 13
Assess progress against the target, reviewing the available evidence to assess whether the minimum target level should be adjusted to maintain a stretching level of ambition.
Action 14
Publish biennial reports on results of the indicator monitoring, including progress against the PLI target.
Objective 3: Actions to build and strengthen compliance
Action 15
Commission an evidence project to review where data from a range of indicators and metrics can further inform a risk-based approach to compliance.
Action 16
Review how membership of industry/assurance schemes might be taken into account as part of assessing users’ risk profiles, so inspections are better targeted.
Action 17
Ensure guidance on the use of PPPs, in particular, the ‘Codes of Practice for using plant protection products’ (and the ‘Code of Practice for suppliers of pesticides to agriculture, horticulture and forestry’), are updated to be current, remain clear and easily accessible, support compliance and embed IPM as a key part of our long-term approach to pest control.
Action 18
Engage with online marketplaces to discuss findings of research regarding online sales of professional PPPs, and approaches to increasing visibility of the legal requirements of their use for the general public.
.The VI will discuss the NAP in detail at it's regular Strategy Group meeting on 26th March and supply further comment after that. The full version of the NAP can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-pesticides-national-action-plan-2025