Agrochemicals belong to the best tested and evaluated substances in Europe. Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (“Regulation 1107”) sets forth the requirements regarding quality, safety and efficacy of agrochemicals and provides which documentation has to be submitted in order to obtain regulatory approval. The documents filed with the regulatory authorities contain proprietary information and know-how of the registrants. Accordingly, registrants have a legitimate interest in confidential treatment. Regulation 1107 thus contains specific confidentiality provisions.
On the other hand, EU legislation on transparency, in particular the legislation implementing the Aarhus Convention, provides for rights of access to information held by institutions. Recently, a number of legal actions related to the regulatory procedures for agrochemicals have been based on the transparency legislation.
This report analyses the relationship between the transparency legislation and Regulation 1107 with regard to rights of access to information provided in the regulatory process for agrochemicals.