Food and health quality protection - Infopage
Indicators on plant protection products, antimicrobials and animal welfare.
Background information
Some of the key challenges facing EU agriculture include improving the response to society's demands on food and health, including safe, nutritious and sustainable food, reducing food waste, and improving animal health and welfare.
The sustainable use of pesticides in the EU aims at reducing the risks and impacts of pesticide use on human health and the environment and promoting the use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and of alternative approaches or techniques, such as non-chemical alternatives to pesticides. In this dashboard, all references to pesticides refer to plant protection products only. Biocides are included in the term pesticides, but data on biocides are not included.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a challenge for which the CAP is called to respond and support Community action, especially on the use of antimicrobials in animal husbandry quantified by the sales of antimicrobials.
The safety of the food chain is indirectly affected by the welfare of animals, particularly those farmed for food production, due to the close links between animal welfare, animal health and food-borne diseases.
The dashboard offers an overlook on the main results in terms of sales and risk of pesticides, sales of antimicrobials and animal welfare support implementation through the dedicated measure in Rural Development programmes.
To know more on environmental challenges facing agriculture and rural areas, click here.
In case data are missing for some Member States, EU totals are calculated with the available information.
Plant protection products - Sales (tonnes)
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Sales of veterinary antimicrobials (mg/PCU)
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- Quantities of antimicrobials are expressed in mg, corrected by Population Correction Unit (PCU). The amounts of veterinary antimicrobial agents sold are linked to the animal demographics in each country. In order to normalise the sales data for the animal population that can be subjected to treatment with antimicrobial agents, PCU is used in the ESVAC as a proxy for the size of the animal population.
- The data on sales of veterinary antimicrobials for food-producing animals should not be used for direct comparison between countries without considering differences in national contexts; and changes observed over time for certain countries should be interpreted with caution.
- More information can be found in the latest ESVAC report from which this data is extracted.
Plant protection products - Harmonised Risk Indicator
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- The Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 refers to the risk associated with pesticides and it is based on European Statistics on the placing on the market of pesticides. The indicator is available at EU and MS level.
- Sales data collected by Eurostat are categorised and weighted based on the regulatory status of the active substances under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. The resulting weights are aggregated according to the Commission Directive (EU) 2019/782 resulting in a harmonised, EU wide indicator. The baseline for Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 is set at 100, and is equal to the average result of the calculation for the period 2011-2013.
Number of livestock units supported under Rural Development to improve Animal welfare
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- The number of livestock units financed in the specific measure for animal welfare (Measure 14) is reported by Member States to the Commission in the Annual implementation reports (AIR) of Rural Development programmes. The total is annual and related to the latest year available.
Map: Sales of veterinary antimicrobials by Member State (mg/PCU)
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- Quantities of antimicrobials are expressed in mg, corrected by Population Correction Unit (PCU). The amounts of veterinary antimicrobial agents sold are linked to the animal demographics in each country. In order to normalise the sales data for the animal population that can be subjected to treatment with antimicrobial agents, PCU is used in the ESVAC as a proxy for the size of the animal population.
- The data on sales of veterinary antimicrobials for food-producing animals should not be used for direct comparison between countries without considering differences in national contexts; and changes observed over time for certain countries should be interpreted with caution.
- More information can be found in the latest ESVAC report from which this data is extracted.
Graph: Plant protection products - Sales by category (tonnes)
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Graph: Plant protection products - Harmonised Risk Indicator
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- The Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 refers to the risk associated with pesticides and it is based on European Statistics on the placing on the market of pesticides. The indicator is available at EU and MS level.
- Sales data collected by Eurostat are categorised and weighted based on the regulatory status of the active substances under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. The resulting weights are aggregated according to the Commission Directive (EU) 2019/782 resulting in a harmonised, EU wide indicator. The baseline for Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 is set at 100, and is equal to the average result of the calculation for the period 2011-2013.
Graph: Plant protection products - Harmonised Risk Indicator by group of substances
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- The Harmonised Risk indicator 1 refers to the risk associated with pesticides and it is based on European Statistics on the placing on the market of pesticides. The indicator is available only at EU level.
- Sales data collected by Eurostat are categorised and weighted based on the regulatory status of the active substances under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009. The resulting weights are aggregated according to the Commission Directive (EU) 2019/782 resulting in a harmonised, EU wide indicator. The baseline for Harmonised Risk Indicator 1 is set at 100, and is equal to the average result of the calculation for the period 2011-2013.
Graph: Sales of veterinary antimicrobials by Member State
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- Quantities of antimicrobials are expressed in mg, corrected by Population Correction Unit (PCU). The amounts of veterinary antimicrobial agents sold are linked to the animal demographics in each country. In order to normalise the sales data for the animal population that can be subjected to treatment with antimicrobial agents, PCU is used in the ESVAC as a proxy for the size of the animal population.
- The data on sales of veterinary antimicrobials for food-producing animals should not be used for direct comparison between countries without considering differences in national contexts; and changes observed over time for certain countries should be interpreted with caution.
- More information can be found in the latest ESVAC report from which this data is extracted.
Graph: Share of livestock units receiving specific CAP support on animal welfare
Unit: share of livestock units on total livestock units at Member State level
Indicator(s) used in the graph:
Notes:
- The number of livestock units financed in Measure 14 is reported by Member States to the Commission in the Annual implementation reports (AIR) of Rural Development programmes. The total is annual and related to the latest year available. As not all Member States opened the measure in their Rural Development Programme, the EU average is calculated only with regard to Member States with livestock units supported and not to the EU total livestock units.
- The denominator (total livestock units by Member State) refers to 2016 data in the Farm Structure Survey (Eurostat), indicator C.21 Livestock units (CTX_SEC_21_1).