Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic (SOSR)

Cross-sectional Statistics Department

Lamačská cesta 3/C, 840 05 Bratislava 45, Slovakia

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.

- Act No 405/2011 on Phytosanitary Care, § 35, section 4 - determines the obligation of authorisation holders and parallel trade permit holders to report data on amounts of sold plant protection products in given year to the Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture (CCTIA).

- Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic (SR) No 491/2011 on the keeping of records of plant protection products and the reporting of data, conditions and procedures for the storage and handling of plant protection products and the cleaning of used application equipment, annex 4 - specifies the format of reports that authorisation holders and parallel trade permit holders shall submit to the CCTIA.

- Act No 405/2011 on Phytosanitary Care: https://www.zakonypreludi.sk/zz/2011-405 (only available in Slovak),

- Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR No 491/2011: https://www.zakonypreludi.sk/zz/2011-491 (only available in Slovak).

The responsible institution for national legislation is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR.

Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture (organization of the ministry) is reposnsible for obtaining data on pesticide sales from authorisation holders and parallel trade permit holders in accordance with the national legislation.

- Act No 405/2011 - 26.11.2011,

- Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR No 491/2011 - 1.1.2012.

The required variables are covered.

No significant difference between national and EU definitions. The national legislation is based on the EU legislation, definitions were transposed without notable modifications.

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 covers 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 for Slovakia.

Data are available for period 2011 - 2019.

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

See sub-concepts below.

Not applicable.

We selected as type of source data in the item 3.1.1. the option "administrative data", since the data source used for compilig the pesticide sales stataistics for Slovakia is listed in the Annex 3 of the Programme of State Statistical Surveys. And the Annex 3 specifies administrative sources for the purpose of state statistics.

Specifically, the data source is the database containing data and information on pesticide sales in Slovakia which are gathered from reports annualy submitted by the authorisation holders and parallel trade permit holders. The database is managed by the Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture - organization of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR.

The database contains the following items/characteristics:

• name of company - authorization holder or holder of a parallel trade permit,
• name of pesticide,
• name of active substance contained in pesticide,
• amount of active substance contained in pesticide,
• amount of pesticide placed on the market in Slovakia in given year.

Annually.

Authorisation holders for sale of plant protection products and parallel trade permit holders are obliged by national law to submit on annual basis reports on pesticide sales to the competent institution - Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture (CCTIA). Obtained data are recorded into the respective database.

Obligation to submit reports is determined by § 35 of Act No 405/2011 on Phytosanitary Care. The format of reports is specified in Annex 4 of the Decree of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR No 491/2011. Methodological guidance for respondents concerning submission of reports is available on website of the CCTIA: https://www.uksup.sk/en/aktualita/151/orp-usmernenie-pre-drzitelov-autorizacie-a-drzitelov-povolenia-na-paralelny-obchod. Template of reports format is attached as annex (see the annex section below).

Statistical Office of the SR on the basis of the official Agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR/Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture regarding cooperation concerning statistics obtains annually data from this administrative data source for the purpose of compiling and reporting pesticide sales statistics to Eurostat.

Data collected from authorisation holders and parallel trade permit holders are checked and verified by experts from the Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture (CCTIA). Possible identified errors/inconsistencies are consulted with respective resppndents by telephone or in writing and corrected if necessary. In serious cases the CCTIA can impose penalties on respondents for reporting incorrect data.

Also additional check is performed - comparing the data for particular active substances with amounts for previous reference years.

Detailed data on pesticide sales recorded in the database are compiled/aggregated for particular active substances specified in the Annex III of the Regulation (EC) No 1185/2009 concerning statistics on pesticides. The source database provides directly outputs in active substances.

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

The Statistical Office of the SR has implemented the Quality Management System (QMS) which is based on the International Standardization Organization standard - ISO 9001. The QMS has been certified by the certification body every three years starting with 2006. Respecting the process approach principle and Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model, the system covers issues related to management, resources, operation and measurement, analysis and improvement. The system has been enhanced by inclusion of requirements of European statistics Code of Practice and of selected elements of other advanced quality management systems. The QMS is described in the Quality manual (only available in Slovak): https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/aboutus/key.documents/book.of.quality/!ut/p/z1/pZFBC4JAEIV_UczkmrsedwvcDclWEW0u4SmWyoKi35_WzXAVmtsw3-M93gBBDdQ2L3dqnu7WNpduP1B0tNwIpZYSM50gGr4twlzwINMRVB9gnUgd8hRRpMkKjdRlHlvGUDKgOXocGYnz9GPAfqAXu43qzim3wiiWqWCo_wU8_hgHfv8e-Ct_B5C_ngpoKiJNdfAFfD-cSlE8znC_lv3U6MziDbn3CMc!/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1E3SThCQjFBME9IRzAwSTdKUzRSODcyT0g2/. The application of the quality manual in practice ensures that all activities that have impact on the quality of statistical products are planned, managed, examined and assessed.

Also the following documents are part of the QMS: 

• Quality policy of the Statistical Office of the SR: https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/aboutus/key.documents/quality.policy/!ut/p/z1/pZFBCsIwEEVPJDNtapMuE5UkUoxpKa3ZSBYiBa0uxPMbBTdC04J_N_Ae85kBBx24wT_7s3_0t8Ffwnxw-dFSzYRIOBolETXd1lnFaGo2GbQfYCW5ymiJyEq5RM1VUxWWEOQE3BwfR8Jxnj8G7OM-pxN-AGJ-nkz4AfirfwBc_DwtuNgKLNJfgO3WIgAltUwLYsQXiP1wqkV9GuB-bd7psNeLF2xPbDY!/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1E3SThCQjFBME9IRzAwSTdKUzRSODcyT0E3/, 
• Quality Declaration of the Statistical Office of the SR: https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/aboutus/key.documents/quality.declaration/!ut/p/z1/pZHBCsIwDIafSJKtc-2OrcpWKdZtjM1cpAeRgU4P4vNbBS_CuoG5Bb4v-UmAoAMa3LM_u0d_G9zF9wdKjyXXQqlIoi1yRM23dVIJHlvJof0Aq1wWCTeIwuRL1LJoqqxkDCUDmuPjSEmc548B-7C_SSZ8v4DC8cJ-Gv2X3wek8PgWKIRgFv8CYrdWHjC8FFoxq75A6IdTV6hPA9yvzbs67PXiBR2W0lo!/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1E3SThCQjFBME9IRzAwSTdKUzRSODcyTzYx/ , 
• Vision and strategic/quality objectives of the Statistical Office of the SR: https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/aboutus/key.documents/vision/!ut/p/z1/pZHBCsIwDIafSJKtc-2OrcpWKdZtjM1cpAeRgU4P4vNbBS_CuoH_LfB95A8Bgg5ocM_-7B79bXAXPx8oPZZcC6UiibbIETXf1kkleGzTCNoPsMplkXCDKEy-RC2LpspKxlAyoDk-jkTiPH8M2If9TTLhS_7ffg9Q-Lyw7wtSuF4LFEIwi38BsVsrDxheCq2YVV8g9MOpK-rTAPdr806HvV68AOsMPOk!/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1E3SThCQjFBME9IRzAwSTdKUzRSODcyT0ky/.

In general, we consider pesticide sales statistics for Slovakia as of good quality, with sufficient accuracy.

The main user of pesticide sales data for Slovakia is Eurostat. We haven't noticed any specific demands for this statistical product from national the users.

At national level the data are mainly used directly by their owner - the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the SR - the ministry collects the data through its organization the Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture.

Users' satisfaction as regards the pesticide sales statistics is not monitored at national level.

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

All data required under the Regulation(EC) No 1185/2009 concerning statistics on pesticides (Annex I) are provided to Eurostat. The completeness rate is 100%.

See sub-concepts below.

Overall, the accuracy of submitted data on pesticides sales is considered to be good. Data are from reliable official data source - the pesticide sales database which contains data collected directly from authorisation holders and parallel trade permit holders. Data collection is regulated and supported by national legislation thus the respond rate is high. Data are checked for errors and inconsistencies and validated before their submission to Eurostat.

The final, validated version of data is provided to Eurostat.

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.

Non-sampling errors are described in items 6.3.1 - 6.3.5.

No divergence between responding units and the target population. Data are collected from authorisation holders for plant protection products and parallel trade permit holders in Slovakia.

All covered responding units belong to the target population.

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

Possible inconsistencies identified in data reported by respondents are usually corrected within the process of recording data from reports into the database.

Response rate is very high, almost 100 %.

Note: 3 subjects - foreign companies (one in liquidation according to the business register) didn't submit reports with data for year 2019 despite the fact that: 

» according the national law, the reporting of data on pesticide sales is obligatory for authorisation holders and parallel trade permit holders; 

» reminder to report the data was sent to them.

In case that respondents don't submit data within the given deadline, they are contacted by the Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture (CCTIA) and asked to report the data additionally.

Note: According the Act No 405/2011 on Phytosanitary Care, §39, section 2e) CCTIA can impose penalty to authorization holders and parallel trade permit holders for not fullfiling their obligation to submit data on sales of plant protection products to the CCTIA (the obligation to report the data is defined in §35, section 4 of the Act).

In case that respondents submit incomplete reports (missing data for some items), they are requested to report missing data additionally. Thus the completeness of data for all items is ensured.

No significant processing errors have occurred.

Not applicable.

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 revision policy regulates basic rules and general procedures for revisions of preliminary data and also for revisions due to other reasons. Documents regarding revision policy and revision calendar are available on the website of the Statistical Office of the SR (only available in Slovak): https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/products/revisions/!ut/p/z1/jZHNTsMwEISfpU_gcewm6XGTEseQltj5adlLlVMVFQoSiOcnBCQkpLqd20rz7Y5mBYu94PPwOR6Hj_H1PDxP8xPHB3LONVXfw_RRAaukwbbrgDYWu9ngEptmmSSkW38H21Jt_ L2W0EvBl3mzUf95bB7yyWBLl5GXsHrmi6aOaKVNvvaPE9_mUdpUcQTIXz43VOqkAtLKLGGp7PzKKQVSoft_-XFBhNv4gIHD64P8d0Ecrid8v0huyx8omMPrd4JnS-gD1zrgayGb95N4e-l-tMdYHxeLL6vcrAk!/dz/d5/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS80TmxFL1o2X1ZMUDhCQjFBMDBTTTkwSVZTNFRPODcyREYx/

There is no need for national revision policy for pesticide sales statistics, since the data provided to Eurostat and disseminated at national level are final data (not preliminary data) and revisions of data on pesticide sales for other reasons are rare.

Final verified data are submitted to Eurostat. Preliminary data are not reported. Therefore no regular/planned revisions are performed on data on pesticide sales.

The high accuracy of the final data is assured, so data revisions are rare in practice. In case that some revisions are necessary (e.g. error is detected), the revised data set is sent to Eurostat.

Not measured.

According to the 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.

Deadline for data transmission that is specified in Annex I, section 5(3) of the Regulation 1185/2009 was met.

Data for reference year 2019 for Slovakia were submitted to Eurostat on 8.12.2020.

No delays.

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.

Active substances for data before 2016 have not yet been reclassified for Slovakia - there is break in time series in 2016. Therefore the pesticide sales statistics for Slovakia is comparable:

• from 2011 to 2015; and
• from 2016 onwards.

4 (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)

Data on pesticide sales should be coherent with data on pesticide use in agriculture for given year and active substance.

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

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

Data are internally coherent. All data in the submitted data set come from the same data source.

No news release.

No publication.

Data for pesticide sales statistics for period 2011 - 2019 are published in DATAcube database on the website of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic - in the table "Pesticides - pesticides placing on the market" [zp1001rs]: http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/view/en/VBD_SK_WIN/zp1001rs/v_zp1001rs_00_00_00_en.

Access: http://datacube.statistics.sk/#!/lang/en > 5. Environment > 5.1 Environment > Pesticides - pesticides placing on the market [zp1001rs].

Not available.

Microdata are not disseminated. The owner of dataset on pesticide sales is the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic, therefore the conditions set by the ministry are applied concerning provision of respective microdata. The microdata are not available for research purposes, the ministry provides microdata only upon specific request to the competent governmental bodies (e.g. Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic, experts in area of pesticide risk assessment – purpose for monitoring of pesticide residues in water sources etc.) and to the EU institutions (e.g. European Commission, JRC).

No other dissemination.

No document on methodology at national level.

No document on quality management at national level.

Not requested.

Not requested.

Number of staff engaged in pesticide sales statistics at national level is 4 persons - 3 experts from the Central Controlling and Testing Institute in Agriculture (2 experts from Plant Protection Department and 1 expert from Pesticides Registration Department) and 1 statistician from the Statistical Office of the SR/Cross-sectional Statistics Department.

Burden on respondents - estimated time for filling in the reports is cca 5 hours. Most of respondents work with electronic records/databases from which they can extract and report data rather easily.

In general, the dissemination of statistical information in Slovakia is defined in part five of the Act No 540/2001 on state statistics: https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/wcm/connect/938bf3c4-f9f2-450d-80e1-18f0bedcb8f0/act_540_2001_en.pdf?MOD=AJPERES. According to the Act, all national authorities or bodies executing state statistics shall adhere the obligation to ensure protection of confidential statistical data as specified in §29 and §30 of the Act. Rules for ensuring statistical confidentiality are defined in the document "Principles of applying protection of confidential statistical data" available on the website of the Statistical Office of the SR (only available in Slovak): https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/services/infoservis/confidential/!ut/p/z1/jZDLCsIwEEW_pV-QW9NHXE5F00AspCVpzaZkVQpaXYjfr0i3xs5u4Jw7w2WeDcwv4TVP4Tnfl3D97BdfjKZUoqpSgshLQDWdBVyHY1aw_gscJNVZqQGhZQ5FtW33hnMQZ36Ljx9D2OZHAB-P75mPnSjabAXIGNNp5yDd7gTFU4nGWsgzX4FYB_--eNysHTCriZLkDad0uCQ!/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/. The document is based on the Directive of the Statistical Office of the SR on protection of confidential data.

Rules for ensuring statistical confidentiality are specified in the document "Principles of applying protection of confidential statistical data" available on the website of the Statistical Office of the SR (only available in Slovak): https://slovak.statistics.sk/wps/portal/ext/services/infoservis/confidential/!ut/p/z1/jZDLCsIwEEW_pV-QW9NHXE5F00AspCVpzaZkVQpaXYjfr0i3xs5u4Jw7w2WeDcwv4TVP4Tnfl3D97BdfjKZUoqpSgshLQDWdBVyHY1aw_gscJNVZqQGhZQ5FtW33hnMQZ36Ljx9D2OZHAB-P75mPnSjabAXIGNNp5yDd7gTFU4nGWsgzX4FYB_--eNysHTCriZLkDad0uCQ!/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/. 

In case of data on pesticide sales the following rules for determining confidential data are applied:

• primary confidentiality - threshold rule (flag A): cell is confidential if less than 3 entities contribute to the total of that cell,
• primary confidentiality - dominance rule (flag G): the cell is confidential if the largest unit contribute more than 90 % of the cell total,
• secondary confidentiality (flag D): value is labeled as confidential to avoid disclosure of other confidential values.

In practice, the data are flagged as confidential mostly due to the threshold rule.

No comments.