Almost thirty minor uses authorised
On 28 October 2020, the Ctgb authorised a large number of minor uses for four products. This concerns one insecticide and three fungicides, which are now available for use on more crops (from currants to lamb's lettuce and climbing shrubs).
Authorisations of plant protection products can be extended with minor uses via a relatively long European procedure. However, applications for minor uses can also be submitted via the NLKUG procedure (national extended authorisation of minor uses of a plant protection product). The NLKUG procedure is faster and simpler than the European procedure. An important principle of the NLKUG procedure is that the extended authorisations fall primarily within the assessed risks of the original authorisation, known as the ‘risk envelope’, with the option of assessing only a few minor components according to the assessment framework used at the time. As a result, with the NLKUG procedure the fees and charges are lower for an authorisation extended with minor uses, and the turnaround time is relatively fast because a shorter risk assessment is needed.
The Ctgb has ascertained that a number of NLKUG applications submitted in the last 12 to 24 months fall outside the scope of the NLKUG procedure. For example, the authorisation of a product for indoor use cannot be extended via this procedure to include field use. The same applies to frequency of use or dosage. These uses must not exceed the scope of use of the original authorisation, otherwise the Ctgb must still carry out a full assessment. The Ctgb has been lenient and has assessed these applications anyway, but this required a disproportionate amount of our capacity. As a result, other NLKUG applications that do fall within the scope have been delayed. Therefore the Ctgb has decided that from 1 January 2021 it will no longer accept applications that fall outside the scope of the NLKUG procedure. Such applications for extended authorisations must be submitted via the European procedure (zonal application to amend the current authorisation). More information on this will be provided soon on the Ctgb website.
For three of the four NLKUG applications that have now been authorised, the Ctgb did not have to perform a risk assessment; these extended authorisations fall entirely within the previously assessed risks of the authorised product. A limited assessment was carried out for one application. These are four good examples of applications for minor uses within the scope of the NLKUG procedure.