56th Meeting of the Working Party on Plant Protection Products

Paris, 2026-06-09/11

This Working Party on Plant Protection Products oversees the technical work of the EPPO Expert Working Groups (EWG) and Panels related to Plant Protection Products (PPPs). It meets once a year to draw up their programmes subject to the approval of the Council and assign specific tasks to Panels of experts.

The 56th meeting of the Working Party on PPP took place at the EPPO headquarters in Paris, on 2026-06-09/11. The Working Party was chaired by Mr Horn, EPPO Officer-in-Charge. It was attended by the EPPO Scientific Officers Mr Lucchesi and Mr Martínez Pérez, 15 country representatives from 14 EPPO countries and 2 observers: an industry representative (CropLife Europe) and a European Commission representative (DG SANTE).

The major points discussed at the meeting are summarised below.

EPPO Standards for approval

The Working Party on PPPs has recommended that 7 General Standards and 15 Specific Standards within the PP 1 series related to the efficacy evaluation of PPPs, including both revised and new Standards, are submitted as proposals for Council approval. If approved by the EPPO Council in September 2026, they will be published in the EPPO Bulletin and included in the EPPO Database on PP 1 Standards.

New and Revised General Standards

PP 1/NEW Principles for conducting efficacy trials for PPP adjuvants to define their field of use

PP 1/207 Effects on succeeding crops

PP 1/225 Minimum effective dose

PP 1/241 Guidance on comparable climates (minor revision)

PP 1/256 Effects on adjacent crops

PP 1/257 Principles of efficacy extrapolations for minor uses (minor revision, to include reference to EPPO Database on PPP Data Extrapolation)

PP 1/306 General principles for the development of co-formulated mixtures of PPPs (minor revision)

New and Revised Specific Standards

Fungicides

PP 1/005 Venturia inaequalis and V. pyrina

PP 1/NEW Glomerella Leaf Spot and Apple Bitter Rot on apple

Insecticides

PP 1/006 Adoxophyes orana

PP 1/009 Delia radicum on vegetable brassica crops

PP 1/013 Ostrinia nubilalis, Sesamia nonagrioides and Sesamia cretica on maize (and withdrawal of PP 1/187 Sesamia nonagrioides on maize)

PP 1/267 Thrips on allium crops

PP 1/NEW Weevils on maize and sunflower

PP 1/NEW Popillia japonica on grapevine and maize

Acaricides

PP 1/015 Tetranychid mites in orchards

PP 1/133 Tetranychid mites in vineyards

PP 1/168 Tetranychid and tarsonemid mites on ornamentals

PP 1/192 Mites on strawberry

PP 1/NEW Gall mites in black currant, gooseberry and hazelnut

Herbicides and Plant Growth Regulators

PP 1/156 Accelerated ripening of arable oilseed Brassica crops, legumes and sunflower

PP 1/NEW Efficacy evaluation of herbicides when long-term control of perennial weeds is claimed

EPPO PPP Databases

The Working Party reviewed the progress on the four EPPO databases supporting the work on PPPs:

The EPPO Database on Resistance Cases continues to expand, now containing 1 227 validated cases with contributions from 24 countries and more than 1 000 unique users.
The EPPO Database on PPP Data Extrapolation was significantly updated with more than 70 new or revised minor-use extrapolation possibilities for fungicides and insecticides and new entries for slugs and crop safety, while work has started on developing major-use extrapolations following the adoption of EPPO Standard PP 1/331 Principles of efficacy extrapolations for major uses.
The EPPO Database on PP 1 Standards, including planned improvements to its search functionality, user experience and accessibility, as well as longer-term developments.
Concerning the EPPO Global Database, the Working Party was informed about minor improvements in the EPPO Codes for PPP Uses (crop group classifications), and a plan for further possible future improvements was identified.