Plant Protection Products Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Approvals for research and development

9.—(1) A person shall not carry out any experiment or test for research or development purposes involving the release into the environment of a plant protection product which has not been approved under regulations 5, 7, 8 or 11 unless an approval for trial purposes has been granted by the Department under this regulation in respect of that product.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), any person who wishes to obtain an approval under this regulation shall submit an application to the Department before the commencement of the experiment or test, together with a dossier containing all the available information, so as to permit an assessment to be made of possible effects on human or animal health or the possible impact on the environment.

(3) Paragraph (2) shall not apply if the Department has granted the applicant the right to undertake certain experiments and tests and has determined the conditions under which the experiments and tests have to be undertaken.

(4) An approval granted under this regulation shall specify the requirements and conditions relating to the release into the environment of the product, which shall include a specification of the controlled conditions for carrying out the test, the quantities and area or location in respect of which the approval shall apply and any conditions imposed under paragraph (5).

(5) If the proposed experiments or tests referred to in paragraph (1) are liable to have harmful effects on human or animal health or to have an unacceptably adverse influence on the environment, the Department may either prohibit them or permit them subject to such conditions as it considers necessary to prevent those consequences.

(6) This regulation shall not apply to experiments or tests covered by Part B of Council Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms(1).

(7) Any person who contravenes or causes or permits any person to contravene—

(a) paragraph (1); or

(b) any requirement or condition of an approval granted under this regulation,

shall be guilty of an offence.

(1)

O.J. No. L106, 17.4.2001, p. 1 as last amended by Regulation (EC) No. 1830/2003 of the European Parliament and Council (O.J. No. L268, 18.10.2003, p. 24)