site.btaParliament Adopts on First Reading Amendments to Plant Protection Act Regulating Use of Drones in Agriculture

Parliament on Friday unanimously adopted on first reading amendments to the Plant Protection Act regulating the use of drones in agricultural activities by 161 votes in favour. The amendments were tabled by Desislava Atanasova (GERB-UDF) and a group of MPs.

The bill introduces a ban on the application of plant protection products by means of a drone. An exception to the ban will be allowed when the equipment attached to it has been issued with a certificate of compliance with the requirements of the ISO 23117-1 standard or when the application is not carried out with a liquid solution. A number of conditions are set out to be met during the application of the products in terms of air temperature and humidity, application height, wind speed and the movement of the unmanned aircraft.

The plant protection products to be used must undergo an approval procedure preceded by a risk assessment. 

Farmers will be required to notify the relevant regional food safety directorate of any spraying by drone at least five days before the date of treatment, and information on the notifications will be maintained in the public national electronic register of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA). In addition, farmers will be required to notify bee colony owners personally of the date and time of spraying.

The amendments foresee that BFSA will establish and maintain on its website a public electronic register for the disclosure of plant protection, disinfection and disinsection activities. The register will contain information on the location of each individual apiary and information on planned and carried out plant protection activities. When an apiary falls within the three-kilometre zone around a block with a planned activity, the information system will notify its owner or user by electronic message.