Understanding the New EU Pesticide Labeling Regulation
The European Commission has proposed a new regulation that will fundamentally change how plant protection products (PPPs), commonly referred to as pesticides, are labeled across the European Union. This draft legislation is designed to replace the existing Regulation (EU) No 547/2011, which currently outlines labeling requirements for these products. The primary shift involves the introduction of mandatory digital labeling, including the use of QR codes, to improve the accessibility, clarity, and accuracy of pesticide information.
This new regulation is being introduced to align with the EU’s broader goals of enhancing sustainability, regulatory compliance, and consumer safety. By transitioning to digital labeling, regulators aim to provide end-users—farmers, distributors, and consumers—with real-time, multilingual access to critical information regarding pesticide use, safety measures, and environmental impact. Additionally, digital labeling reduces the reliance on printed materials, contributing to eco-friendly initiatives.
The European Commission aims for the new regulation to take effect on January 1, 2026, making it imperative for businesses within the agricultural and chemical sectors to begin their compliance preparations now. You can find out more here.
How Will the New Regulation Affect Packaging, Labeling, and Artwork Management?
The shift to digital labeling brings significant changes to product packaging and artwork management. Businesses will need to incorporate QR codes and other digital identifiers into their packaging design while ensuring brand consistency and readability. Since digital labels will allow for real-time updates, companies must implement robust systems that ensure accuracy, compliance, and easy content modifications.
One of the key challenges businesses face is maintaining compliance while keeping up with frequent regulatory changes. Traditional label updates involve complex and time-consuming processes that could lead to compliance risks if errors occur. With digital labeling, companies must have a strategy in place to manage rapid updates efficiently.
To adapt successfully, businesses should conduct a thorough assessment of their current packaging and artwork processes to identify areas requiring change. Companies should also ensure that their labeling management system is capable of handling the increased complexity of multilingual and frequently updated digital content.
Which Industries Will Be Affected?
The new pesticide labeling regulation will have widespread effects across multiple industries, including:
Agricultural Sector: Farmers and pesticide applicators will rely on digital labels for up-to-date product information, safety guidelines, and proper usage instructions.
Chemical Manufacturers: Companies that produce active ingredients for pesticides must ensure their labeling systems comply with the new digital requirements.
Your Step-byStep Guide to Compliance
To stay ahead of the regulation, businesses must take a proactive approach to preparation. Let’s look at these changes in terms of both business process and technical impact:
Business Process
Step 1 - Understand the New Requirements - Familiarize yourself with the upcoming regulatory changes and how they impact your packaging, labeling, and product information.
Step 2 - Assess how digital labeling (QR codes, online portals) will fit into your operations.
Step 3 - Review your current process flows for creating, updating, and approving labels. Explore if the new recommendations can help you eliminate bottlenecks for your business process and in the supply chain and can help you with gaining enhanced efficiencies. This might be a chance to re-adjust your workflows and contents to harness benefits of digital economy.
Step 4 - Review your content repository and explore if you have outdated or incorrect information.
Step 5 - Set vision mission goals for the new compliance and start thinking about a plan to Implement a Digital Labeling Strategy.
Step 6 - Initiate conversations to establish investment framework for upgrades or explore labeling and artwork management solutions that can handle frequent updates and compliance changes. Engage with suppliers, distributors, and regulatory agencies to streamline the transition to digital labeling across the supply chain.
Technical Impact
Step 1: Assess existing labeling and artwork management system (LAMS) to determine whether they can support digital labeling and frequent content updates.
Step 2 - Evaluate the ROI on upgrading your existing LAMS or replacing with available options in the market.
Step 3: If current systems lack the capability to manage digital labeling efficiently, migrating to a more advanced platform may be necessary. Businesses should look for solutions that offer automated mass updates, ensure regulatory compliance, and allow for seamless artwork management all in one end-to-end solution.
Step 4: Work closely with regulatory experts to ensure QR codes and digital labels meet all EU standards for accessibility, multilingual content, and real-time updates.
Step 5: Educate and train staff involved in product labeling, packaging, and compliance on the technical and regulatory aspects of digital labels.
Choosing the Right Labeling and Artwork Management Solution
Given the complexity and speed of regulatory changes, businesses need an advanced, end-to-end, labeling and artwork management system to remain compliant. Kallik’s Veraciti™ software provides a powerful solution for organizations facing these new challenges. Thanks to our Automated Artwork Generation (AAG) tool, Veraciti dynamically assembles the chosen pre-approved content. By using pre-approved templates to automatically generate artwork, human input is removed, reducing errors and speeding up the process significantly.
In a world where every second counts, efficiency is paramount. One Kallik customer using Veraciti updated 10,000 product labels in 14 days, gaining a significant competitive advantage and allowing them to respond swiftly to market demands and stay ahead of the curve. Additionally, with Veraciti's AI-powered migration tool and innovative features for automated artwork generation organizations can unlock new levels of efficiency and productivity.
With Veraciti, businesses can automate mass label updates, manage real-time content modifications, and ensure regulatory compliance with minimal effort. Labels or artworks are created within seconds rather than days, all from pre-approved and on-brand assets.
By investing in an intelligent and scalable system like Veraciti, companies can streamline the transition to digital pesticide labeling while improving efficiency, accuracy, and compliance. And don’t be put off by the hassle of migration, with our revolutionary AI-backed migration tool, AToM, complicated, stressful implementation processes are a thing of the past.
Furthermore, as the EU moves toward a more transparent and sustainable regulatory framework, businesses that embrace digital transformation, with efficient systems like Veraciti, will be well-positioned for long-term success. It’s no wonder we’re recommended by Gartner themselves!
Want to Know More?
Want to know more about how Kallik can help you? Our labeling and artwork management experts are ready to help you transform your business processes with the help of our innovative software, leading the way in the labeling and artwork software space. Get in touch today to see what we can do for you at enquiries@kallik.com or call +44 (0) 1827 318100.