In Germany, recording of pesticide applications came into farmers' practice following the last official revision of the guidelines for good agricultural practice (GAP). These guidelines demand detailed documentation of pesticide measures taken. The recent plant protection act does not make documentation mandatory, but there is a demand for consideration of GAP. In fact, EU legislations 178/2002, 852/2004 and 183/2005 require documentation of the complete agricultural process chain, including plant protection. Additionally, in many cases, documentation of pesticide use and application data is already required by traders, millers, process labels and contract partners. Thus, farmers are forced in several ways to fulfil proper documentation. Nevertheless, critics of pesticide use argue that such documentation is insufficient and that misuse may still take place. Data are lacking, however, to evaluate the current state of agricultural practice in this area.
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