About the targets
The European Commission announced two non-legally binding pesticide reduction targets as part of the Farm to Fork Strategy in May 2020.
These are a 50% reduction in the use and risk of chemical pesticides and a 50% reduction in the use of more hazardous pesticides.
Each year, the Commission will publish progress at European Union level towards meeting both targets.
Background information: how is progress being measured?
The Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies set two key non-legally binding targets for pesticides:
- Target 1: to reduce by 50% the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030
- Target 2: to reduce by 50% the use of more hazardous pesticides by 2030
Target 1 - 50% reduction in use and risk of chemical pesticides
This target will be measured based on:
- the quantities of active substances contained in the pesticides which are placed on the market (sold), and therefore used, in each Member State, and
- the hazard properties of these active substances
Target 2 - 50% reduction in the use of more hazardous pesticides
This will be measured using data on the quantities of more hazardous active substances, the so called ‘candidates for substitution’, contained in the pesticides which are placed on the market (sold), and therefore used, in each Member State.
In the context of the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy, more hazardous pesticides are plant protection products containing one or more active substances approved as candidates for substitution in accordance with Article 24 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 and listed in Part E of the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 540/2011, or containing one or more active substances listed in the Annex to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/408.
In both cases, the trend is compared to a three-year baseline, comprising the average of 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Other points to note in measuring progress towards the Farm to Fork Targets
Historical progress - The graphs cover progress from 2011-2022 and comprise three distinct time periods:
- 2011-2014: Progress prior to the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies
- 2015, 2016 and 2017: Baseline for the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies
- 2018 onwards: Progress under the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies
Annual updates - The Commission will update these trends each year to show progress under the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies.
Data on the sales of pesticides
Eurostat recently published EU-level data on the sales of plant protection products (PPPs) showing the sales of different categories. Eurostat plans to publish comparable data for each Member State in Quarter 4 2024 - Quarter 1 2025 on the same dataset, and to update this data annually in future. This data complements the trends showing progress towards Farm to Fork pesticide reduction targets because it shows the quantities of the different types of PPPs sold each year.