Pesticides, agrochemicals, protection of bees

In the coming months, the Verkhovna Rada is expected to adopt a number of bills that significantly change the legal regulation of production and circulation of pesticides and agrochemicals, namely:

- Draft Law on Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Improving State Regulation in the Sphere of Pesticides and Agrochemicals (Reg. № 4558);
- Draft Law on Plant Protection (Reg. № 4600), as well as related draft Laws Reg. № 4601, register. № 4602, register № 4603;
- Draft Law on Amendments to the Law of Ukraine “On Pesticides and Agrochemicals” on Improving the Requirements for Labeling of Pesticides and Agrochemicals (Reg. № 5237);
- Draft Law on Amendments to Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On Pesticides and Agrochemicals” on Import of Pesticides into the Customs Territory of Ukraine (Reg. № 2289); 
- Draft Law on Chemical Safety and Management of Chemicals, as well as Draft Law on the Development of Beekeeping and Protection of Bees (Reg. № 5274-1), and Draft Law on Biocidal Products. What is expected to change and how will it affect producers, importers, distributors, custodians and users of pesticides and agrochemicals? 
 Introduction of "double registration" of pesticides and agrochemicals The draft Law "On Chemical Safety and Management of Chemicals", the adoption of which is provided by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council of 19.03.2021, provides for "double registration" of pesticides: the first - in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Pesticides and Agrochemicals", which is common for the domestic market; the second - in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Chemical Safety and Management of Chemicals", which is new for Ukraine.
 The procedure for state registration of pesticides and agrochemicals provided for in the Law of Ukraine “On Pesticides and Agrochemicals” is planned to be slightly changed as a result of the adoption of Bill № 4558 - mostly by clarifying the powers of state bodies in the registration procedure. The list of enterprises that will undergo state tests for toxicological and hygienic assessment will be formed by the Ministry of Health, not the State Food and Consumer Service. Adoption of Bill № 4558 will require the Cabinet of Ministers to approve updated procedures for state testing of pesticides and agrochemicals and their state registration. 
  In turn, Bill 5237 stipulates that the environmental expert assessment of materials submitted for state registration of pesticides and agrochemicals should include an assessment of their danger to non-target objects, including bees. The methodology of ecological expert assessment will be approved by the Ministry of Environment, and the list of non-target objects will be approved by the Cabinet of Ministers. It is noteworthy that the assessment of the danger of pesticides and agrochemicals for non-target objects, in particular, bees, is provided by the current Procedure for environmental expert assessment of materials submitted for registration of pesticides and agrochemicals.  The provisions of the bill are formulated in such a way that it is not clear what the difference will be, but most likely, that according to the current Procedure not all types of pesticides and agrochemicals must pass pre-registration safety testing for bees, but for the bill № 5237 - all.