Trends and Tools for Swiss Plant Protection Product Data

Plant protection products (PPP) must be registered before they can be marketed and used. During registration, they are tested for efficacy and side effects, and can only be authorised if they do not pose unacceptable risks to humans, animals or the environment, as assessed by the regulatory authorities. In Switzerland, PPP authorized for use are listed in the Swiss Register of Plant Protection Products (SRPPP), which provides detailed information on active ingredient content, uses, and associated restrictions. These data are publicly available online through a dedicated website and are published in a custom format based on Extensible Markup Language (XML).

 

The current formats of SRPPP data in Switzerland are difficult to analyse, hindering effective use by practitioners and researchers. To address this issue, we have developed two open-source R packages, srppp and srppphist, which provide user-friendly access to SRPPP data. The srppphist package contains annual SRPPP datasets from 2011 to the present, enabling time-series analysis of PPP authorization trends. These tools allow users to retrieve and analyse data on the active substance content of PPP, PPP categories, area of action, target organisms, and use restrictions. These tools assist in assessing sustainability in the context of PPP use by offering valuable support for developing indicators and metrics related to PPP sustainability.

 

In our first analyses, we provide an overview of the development of authorised PPP in Switzerland since 2011. We look at trends in the number and types of plant protection products and their active substances, as well as their modes of action and obligations. Between 2011 and 2024, 574 different substances were registered as active ingredients in the SRPPP. During this period, the number of authorised active substances decreased from 507 in 2011 to 321 in 2024 - a decrease by 63%. Of the active substances authorised in 2011, 51% were still authorised in 2024, while 81% of those authorised in 2024 were already listed in the SRPPP in 2011. These results illustrate the reduction in the availability of active substances over time. In this contribution, we show how different categories of active substances and plant protection products are affected.