Pesticide product parallel trade permits
Parallel trade permits and Northern Ireland (NI)
Parallel trade under Article 52 of Regulation 1107/2009 (NI) is the trade of a plant protection product which is:
- authorised in the Member State from which it is obtained (the Member State of origin)
- determined, by the Member State of introduction, to be identical in composition to one that is already authorised in the Member State of introduction (so, identical to the reference product)
The parallel trade permit provisions do not require an applicant to provide evidence to prove that the product is safe and efficacious. This means the parallel trade permit procedure is cheaper, quicker and simpler than a normal plant protection product authorisation.
More about commercial parallel trade permits
Own-use parallel trade permits
Unlike a commercial parallel trade permit, this does not allow the imported product to be placed on the market in NI. An own-use parallel trade permit only allows for the product's storage and use.
Parallel trade permits for pesticide products for 'own-use' in Northern Ireland
Parallel trade permits and GB
HSE withdrew parallel trade permits in Great Britain with a final sale date of 30 June 2023 and final use date of 30 June 2024.
The Plant Protection Products (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2023 has allowed for parallel permits to be temporarily re-instated in GB for a limited time.
Applications for new parallel trade permits will be considered for Northern Ireland only.
Apply for temporary re-instatement of a parallel permit
Source pesticide products approved under parallel trade permit arrangements
The European Community (EC) has expressed concern that farmers and growers have little information on which pesticide products they may be able to import for their own use under the Parallel Trade Permit arrangements. With this in mind, the EC has asked the UK to publish a list of 'source' products in other EU Member States that have been verified as the same as Northern Ireland (NI) authorised products.
The advantage to farmers and growers of seeing this list is that they can be confident that if CRD has verified the product they wish to import within the last 24 months, we will already have many of the details we require. This should speed up your application and help to discount the fee payable.
Even if the product you wish to import is on this list you will still be required to get a formal trade permit to import it. To do this you will need to make an application to the Chemicals Regulation Division with the details of the product to be imported and the NI reference product.
For more information, read Parallel Trade Permit Procedure: Guidance for introduction, use and placing on the Northern Ireland (NI) market of parallel trade products.
The Parallel Trade Permit List
The Parallel Trade Permit Source List is available at Pesticides Register - Parallel Source Products.
The list will be updated regularly so please check often to ensure that you have an up-to-date copy.