For farmers in Malta
Sprayer inspection in Malta: how often your equipment is due
6/11/2026
In Malta, pesticide application equipment in professional use must be inspected at regular intervals. The rule is in regulation 7 of the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Regulations, subsidiary legislation 430.08, and the details per machine are in its Schedule V.
The general rule
- Since 26 November 2016, only equipment that has passed an inspection may be in professional use.
- New equipment must be inspected at least once within five years after purchase.
- The interval between inspections may not exceed three years since 2020.
What Schedule V says for each machine
- Exempt: manually operated hand-held equipment, and manually operated knapsack sprayers with a tank of up to 20 litres.
- Small powered knapsack sprayers, with a tank of up to 7 litres and an engine of up to 2 HP: at least every 5 years.
- Other powered knapsack sprayers: at least every 3 years since 2020.
- All other application equipment, which includes tractor sprayers: at least every 3 years until 2020 and every 2 years after that, as the Schedule is written.
If you are not sure which line your machine falls under, ask the inspection service before the season rather than after.
Between inspections
The regulations also ask professional users to calibrate and check their equipment regularly, following the manufacturer's recommendations and their training. An inspection certificate does not replace a check of nozzles and output.
How not to miss the date
Keep the date of the last inspection with your spray records and count forward from it. If you use more than one machine, note which one you used for each treatment, so the inspection date that matters is easy to find.
Read next
Official sources
Checked on 6/11/2026
The pesticide training certificate in Malta: what the regulations ask