National Statistics Office (NSO)

Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries Statistics (EAF) Unit

National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta VLT2000, MALTA

See sub-concepts below.

The data set comprises the annual sales of active substances contained in plant protection products placed on the national market for one calendar year according to the Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 as amended by Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/269 of 16 February 2017 as regards the list of active substances.

The data are expressed in kilograms of active substances.

The classification of the active substances in plant protection products is annexed (Annex III) to Commission Regulation (EU) 2017/269 of 16 February 2017 amending Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning statistics on pesticides.

The active substances are classified according to chemical and functional similarity. Aggregation levels in descending order comprise: major groups, categories of products, chemical classes and active substances.

The statistics cover the wholesale and retail trade sector operating in placing plant protection products on the market.

All authorisation holders of plant protection products report the quantity of all active substances that are placed on the market nationally (incl. import and export data).

This data collection comprises pesticide sales data based on the term 'placing on the market' as defined in Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market. The scope of the Regulation covers plant protection products and their active substances as can be seen from the key terms of the act immediately below:

Plant protection products: products consisting of or containing active substances, safeners or synergists, and intended for one of the following uses:

• protecting plants or plant products against all harmful organisms or preventing the action of such organisms, unless the main purpose of these products is considered to be for reasons of hygiene rather than for the protection of plants or plant products;
• influencing the life processes of plants, such as substances influencing their growth, other than as a nutrient;
• preserving plant products, in so far as such substances or products are not subject to special Community provisions on preservatives;
• destroying undesired plants or parts of plants, except algae unless the products are applied on soil or water to protect plants;
• checking or preventing undesired growth of plants, except algae.

Active substances: substances or micro-organisms, including viruses, having general or specific action against harmful organisms or on plants, parts of plants or plant products.

Quantity: implies kilograms of the active substances sold.

Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishes a common framework for the systematic production of Community statistics on the placing on the market and agricultural use of those pesticides which are plant protection products as defined in Article 2 (a)(i). The statistics shall apply to the annual amounts of pesticides active substances placed on the market in accordance with Annex I and the quantity of active substances shall be aggregated according to the list in Annex III (as amended).

Enterprise placing plant protection products on the market; authorisation holder or holder of parallel trade permits.

All enterprises placing plant protection products on the market; authorisation holders and holders of parallel trade permits.

See sub-concepts below.

The entire territory of the country.

Not applicable

The timeseries covers from year 2011 onwards.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics, because it is not based on an index number of time series.

See sub-concepts below.

Not applicable

The comprehensive dataset that is collected through the said annual census includes statistics on the volume of sales of authorised plant protection products by the identified traders of such products in Malta.  The authorised list of products can be viewed through the official website of the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA) through the internet link: https://mccaa.org.mt/Section/Content?contentId=1156

A comprehensive list of products is sent to each respondent and, upon submission of the requested data,  the results are matched with the annual authorised list provided by the MCCAA (compiled as at the end of the year understudy) to ultimately collate information on the quantity of all the active substances used through the products purchased by resident consumers/farmers.

Annually.

The data is collected through a direct-reporting survey system based on a fill-in form distributed via electronic mail to all the traders active in this commercial activity.

The data is repeatedly checked for any errors, inaccuracies, inconsistencies. Data collected is checked with the data of previous years and where there are inconsistencies, the importers are contacted again for further verification of figures.

Once the data is received, the total quantities sold are compared for each product to the previous year's figures. Major deviations in this table are manually checked for plausibility and, if needed, we contact the relevant enterprise for further explanations.

Then all the data is inserted into the database which is then linked to the correspondence table containing the composing substances for each product. All the quantities of substances are converted into ‘kg’.  Then, the data are aggregated into categories as stipulated in Annex III of Regulation 1185/2009.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics, because the data collection is not based on time series.

The collected, compiled and published data on the sales in volume of authorised plant protection products in Malta is rigorously and repeatedly checked throughout all the statistical-processing stages in order to attain the highest quality standards in the final data that is ultimately made available to both internal and external users.

The entire process is carried out in accordance with the best codes of practice for the collection, compilation, presentation, and submission of statistical data.

The users of the above-mentioned statistical data can range from the media at one end, to the general public, policy-makers, academics, international organizations and the same data-suppliers at the other extreme.

Judging from the occasional feedback and data-requests received by the NSO as well as the media coverage of this specific subject, the data is, in general, sought-after by a variety of interested users.

The data collection covers all active substances of plant protection products placed on the national market and the information of all authorisation holders.

100%

See sub-concepts below.

A system of checks and re-checks both across time and within the data collection and processing system is in place to ensure a sound level of accuracy.  Indeed, although no effort is ever enough to ensure the highest level of reliability, both the long-standing data-collection procedures that are available within the domain, as well as the recently-built, automatic data-processing system (which also contain a series of in-built validation mechanisms), provide enough confidence to the EAF Unit to disseminate reliably and on an annual basis the requested data on sales by volume of plant protection products in Malta.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics, because the data collection is not based on samples, but covers the whole statistical population of authorisation holders and plant protection products placed on the national market.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics, because the data collection is not based on samples, but covers the whole statistical population of authorisation holders and plant protection products placed on the national market.

There are validation rules in place so that such an error is kept to a minimal level.  However, possible sources for such an error include data entry errors.

Not applicable since the entire population is selected and questioned in this annual census.

Not applicable since the entire population is selected and questioned in this annual survey.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics as the data stem from one source.

Every effort is made to minimise any measurement errors by having in place the afore-mentioned checks and re-checks together with automatic, in-built validation processes and data-processing systems.

Not applicable since the entire population is selected and questioned in this annual survey.

Not applicable since the entire population is selected, questioned and collected in this annual survey.

Not applicable since the entire population is selected, questioned and collected in this annual survey; and the respondent is specifically directed to provide all-inclusive list of the annual sales of such products sold by the trading entity.

There are validation rules in place so that such an error is kept to a minimal level.  However, possible sources for such an error include data entry errors.

No imputations are applied.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics, because the data collection is not based on estimations.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics, because the reported data on plant protection products covers the whole year.

The data collected is final and not normally subject to revision. But if there are any revisions in the compiled data, the published data will be updated in the following year upon being informed or learning of any necessary updates.

Once collected, data is considered as final and not normally subject to revision. 

Not applicable

According to Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009, the data is published by Eurostat 15 months after the end of the reference year and the national quality report 20 months after the end of the reference year.

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics as the data and national quality reports are only published once in a final result.

15 months after the end of the reference period for the data;

20 months after the end of the reference period for the national quality report.

According to the Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009, data must be transmitted until 30 December of the year t+1, and national quality reports until 31 March of the year t+2.

The deadline for transmitting the yearly data to Eurostat is December. Usually, the data is transmitted by the end of November. Also, the data will be published in the online list of indicators once it is transmitted to Eurostat.

Not applicable

Data are collected on a country level (NUTS 0). They are not comparable on a regional level. The geographical comparability between countries is evaluated by Eurostat.

Not applicable, because there are no mirror flows in pesticide sales statistics.

Data of 2019 is comparable to the annual data collected from 2011 onwards.

9 years

Not applicable

Not applicable for pesticide sales statistics, because the data collection is annual.

Not applicable, because it is not related to national accounts.

Not applicable

At the moment there are no New Releases.

There were no publications for 2019 data.

The data is published on the NSO website under the page dedicated to selected indicators: https://nso.gov.mt/Home/SELECTED_INDICATORS/Pages/Selected-Indicators.aspx. One has to click on 'Agriculture' under the section 'Agriculture and Fisheries' and then click on 'Please click here for more detailed Agriculture statistics'.

Not available

Information to access the microdata is available on the NSO's website through https://nso.gov.mt/en/Services/Microdata/Pages/Access-to-Microdata.aspx

Users can request specific data directly from our website (https://nso.gov.mt/en/Services/Pages/Request-for-Information.aspx).  Data will be compiled and provided in accordance with statistical confidentiality.

Not available.

A quality report related to sales of plant protection products is compiled every year according to an established structure and sent to Eurostat. A quality report is also made for inclusion on the NSO’s metadata website: https://metadata.nso.gov.mt/reports.aspx?id=16%20

Not requested.

Not requested.

All the data collection, data inputting and analysis are done by one principal statistician. No costs are involved in the data collection since this is done via email. Besides, it does not have a significant burden on the respondents since the importers are obliged to keep a record of their sales transactions for a period of five consecutive years and thus they need to complete the questionnaire using readily available information.

At the National level:

The NSO requests information for the compilation of official statistics according to the articles of the Malta Statistics Authority (MSA) Act – Cap. 422 (https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/422/eng/pdf) and the Data Protection Act – Cap. 586 (https://legislation.mt/eli/cap/586/eng/pdf) of the Laws of Malta implementing the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

Article 40 of the MSA Act stipulates the restrictions on the use of information while Article 41 stipulates the prohibition of disclosure of information. Furthermore, Section IX of the Act (Offences and Penalties) lays down the measures to be taken in case of unlawful exercise of any officer of statistics regarding confidentiality of data.

Since its inception, the NSO has always assured that all data collected remains confidential and that it is used for statistical purposes only according to the articles and derogations stipulated in the laws quoted above. The Office is obliged to protect the identity of data providers and refrain from divulging any data to third parties that might lead to the identification of persons or entities.

During 2009, the NSO has set up a Statistical Disclosure Committee to ensure that statistical confidentiality is observed, especially when requests for microdata are received.

Upon employment, all NSO employees are informed of the rules and duties pertaining to confidential information and its treatment. In line with stipulations of the MSA Act, before commencing work, every employee is required to take an oath of secrecy whose text is included in the same Act.

An internal policy on anonymisation and pseudo-anonymisation is in place to ascertain that adequate methods are used for the protection of data that the office collects and shares with the public in its capacity as the National Statistics Office. The policy is meant to safeguard the confidentiality of both personal and business data entrusted to the NSO. The document provides guidance for all NSO employees who process data on a daily basis as to how anonymisation and pseudo-anonymisation methods should be applied. The policy applies to all confidential, restricted and internal information, regardless of form (paper or electronic documents, applications and databases) that is received, processed, stored and disseminated by the NSO.

The collected data is aggregated in order (but not only) to suppress any identification of the individual respondents upon its submission to the European Commission.  Wherever this is not possible, the data is equally submitted but flagged as confidential in order to withhold its publication and (hence) the identification of a specific respondent.

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