3rd Meeting of the ad hoc Panel on Harmonization of
Data on Plant Protection Products
Paris, 2005-12-07/08
The ad-hoc Panel on Harmonization of Data on Plant Protection Products met at the EPPO headquarters in Paris on 2005-12-07/08. The Panel reviewed a draft Standard in series PP 1 'Harmonized classification and coding of the uses of plant protection products' which had been prepared by the EPPO Secretariat. This standard explains what is a 'use' of a plant protection product and what is the value of having an harmonized classification of uses.
It presents the main elements characterizing a use: crop, crop destination, treatment, location of use, target. In Appendices, it is explained how pre-determined lists were drafted for each of these elements. The draft Standard also includes, as a further Appendix, an XML scheme that has been designed to place these elements in a consistent relation, and facilitate transfer of data to other systems.
The Panel reviewed and simplified the lists for each element characterizing a use. It was agreed that modification of the lists should be submitted to an approval process involving the Panel. The resulting lists would be accessible on the EPPO website.
As already explained in the Appendices to the draft Standard, each element in the lists will be assigned a 5- or 6-character EPPO code, starting with '3'. The codes will not be mnemonic, but follow a system still to be devised by the Secretariat. These codes, and their descriptors in English (and in due course other languages) will be added to the EPPO code system, and EPPT, as soon as the Standard is approved. Users will accordingly be able to find the codes and terms in EPPT as well as on the website.