For farmers in the United Kingdom
Spraying in the UK: who needs a certificate, and when supervision is enough
6/11/2026
Anyone in the UK who uses a plant protection product authorised for professional use needs to be qualified for it. The rule is regulation 8 of the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012.
Certificate or supervision
A person may only use a professional product if they:
- hold a specified certificate, the certificate of competence, or
- work under the supervision of someone who does.
The same applies to whoever causes or permits another person to use the product. As a farmer, if you send someone else out with the sprayer, it is your job to make sure that person is qualified or supervised.
Grandfather rights are over
For a while, people born on or before 31 December 1964 could spray their own or their employer's land without a certificate, as long as they were competent. That exemption ceased to have effect on 25 November 2015. Today, age is no reason to spray without a certificate.
Buying the product
Regulation 9 closes the circle: you must not buy a professional product, or have someone buy it, for use by an individual who does not hold a specified certificate, unless that person will use it under supervision.
On the farm
Write down in your spray records who carried out each application. At an inspection, that line tells straight away whose certificate to check, and it saves you looking for paperwork while the inspector waits.
The European basis was Directive 2009/128/EC, which asked each country to set up training and certificates for professional users. In the UK, the 2012 regulations are the text in force.
Read next
Official sources
- The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012, regulation 8
- The Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012, regulation 9
Checked on 6/11/2026
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