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Beside the sales of pesticide information, EU developed the Harmonised Risk Indicator (HRI) to support the goals of the Sustainable use of pesticides Directive (EU, 2009). The HRI, published in 2019, considers the quantities of active substances placed on the market in plant protection products, and shows a decreasing trend from 2011 to 2017 of some 20% (Figure 2.2). This caused surprise among some [1].

Figure 2.2 Harmonised Risk Indicator 1

Note: A baseline of the average of three years 2011-2013 is used as the starting point against which subsequent values are compared.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/sustainable_use_pesticides/harmonised-risk-indicators/trends-hri-eu_en

[1] Source: https://www.endseurope.com/article/1666559/commission-pesticides-data-draws-scepticism

Previous comments

Christine Meisinger (invited by Caroline Whalley) 16 Jan 2020 11:24:32

Suggested text "The European Commission developed Harmonised risk indicator 1 (HRI 1) .......

Suggested text "HRI 1 is based on the quantities of active substances placed on the market in PPPs, with a weighting applied to reflect the hazardous properties of the active substances. HRI 1 shows a 20% decrease in the risks associated with PPPs in the 2011-2017 period. "

This is an important distinction - HRI 1 does not measure quantities sold. It measures risk.

I would leave out "This caused surprise by some". HRI 1 was supported and welcomed by a wide range of stakeholders including Pesticide Action Network.
scheidand (Andreas Scheidleder) 03 Feb 2020 11:14:21

(Austria): There should be a brief explanation of the HRI 1 and also about its interpretation/message.
erdogayl (Aylin Civan) 04 Feb 2020 14:47:15

HRI index should be explained in detail in terms of how it is calculated and what it represents. Also, are there any suggestions on why the HRI trend has been declining?
Stuart Rutherford (invited by Caroline Whalley) 07 Feb 2020 13:43:00

Last sentence - "this caused surprise among some": we suggest to drop this sentence as it is perceived one-sided. This seems more like a personal comment by one of the authors. The cited reference links to an online article about the concern of environmental campaigners. No scientific reason for pros and cons regarding the HRI are given.

Individual EU Member State sales indeed demonstrate that a decline is real.

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