Third European Workshop on Standardised Procedure for the Inspection of Sprayers in Europe

Third European Workshop on Standardised Procedure for the Inspection of Sprayers in Europe – SPISE 3- The SPISE 3-Workshop took place from 22 to 24 September 2009 in Brno (CZ). The Workshop was organised by the SPISE Working Group (SWG), to which representatives from Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany belong (Chairman: Dr.-Ing. H. Ganzelmeier). The participants came from inspection and research institutes, administration and private companies and brought with them the necessary technical expertise. This is why the emphasis at the Workshop in Brno was above all on the practical implementation of the European regulations for equipment inspections. The European Commission‘s representatives were from DG-Environment and DG-Enterprise. The European organisations ECPA, CEMA and COPA also took part. The SPISE3-Workshop met with a very positive response, demonstrated by the 100 experts who took part from 27 European countries. The new Framework Directive binds the Member States to introduce a technical inspection for plant protection equipment which takes place on a rotational basis by the year 2016. The draft prepared and presented by the SPISE Working Group, ‚Proposal for uniform enforcement of inspection in the Member States‘, can be seen as a contribution on how equipment inspections according to article 8 of the Framework Directive can be implemented in national legislation. As in the past SPISE-Workshops, the participants then expressed further recommendations and hopes in a resolution.