Digital Label Compliance Inaugural Newsletter – November 2023
Who we are and what we do
Digital Label Compliance (DLC) is made up of more than 20 companies & organisations
working together to streamline regulatory compliance for Plant Protection Product (PPP)
users.
We are on a journey to digitise all PPP labels (biologicals & synthetics) in the EU following
one machine-readable standard. It is about bringing simplicity in an increasingly
complex environment, providing real-time digital label information which can be read by a
mobile application. DLC can be compared to the assistant driver that changed the
automotive industry. Taking the condition of use “tractor driving speed” as an example,
DLC will offer an alert to the user, indicating if he / she is within the speed limits allowed
while applying given PPP.
Our Vision: Food security, safely provided, in harmony with the environment
Aim: A paradigm shift to reducing risk in PPP application to a bare minimum creating a new
context for PPP application
The solution: Real-time guidance on conditions of use linked to PPP-application being met,
building on an EU-wide standardised database for digitised PPP labels
Stakeholders: Developed in coordination with the farming community and machinery
associations, and consultation of member states, European authorities as well as other
stakeholders
What is the value of Digital Label Compliance?
How is DLC structured
Our team counts ~55 members working in the regulatory, compliance, technology, packaging, and communication areas and represents the crop protection industry in our European and national associations. The team is organised into 12 workstreams, working in parallel and coordinating with a project manager.
The team is supported by consulting companies to develop the digital label platform and a mobile/web-based application to provide access to growers/farmers in the first phase of the initiative.
A core team ensures good coordination of the work and the relation to other CLE groups and external communication.
Close collaboration is ensured by the core teams and work streams with machine manufacturers and users through their European associations, as well as with the national associations in the pilot countries.
What we have achieved so far?
Pilot countries kick-off this initiative!
On 22nd June, we launched our Proof-of-Concept phase on the development of digital
labels database with a workshop in Brussels with our 3 pilot countries & 3 primary crops:
- Germany: Oilseed rape
- Italy: Wheat
- Romania : Sunflowers
News from the technical teams:
- The first digitised labels have been delivered, the second wave are starting to arrive, and
the team have a collaborative approach to identifying and solving the challenges we find - Key partners have been secured to support the pilot, including data platform build, user
interface and app creation, and a digitisation service - The DLC information model has been developed! We’re now on our third iteration
following feedback. It is built from strong semantic foundations and is being used to
capture the first round of digitised labels. These have been deconstructed down to their
smallest useful level to include needs from all countries including local specificities.
What we have achieved so far
The DLC web and mobile applications will offer
- Various levels of access to key information and features depending on registration or
non-registration - Ability to Search
a) By PPP name
b) By Crop name
c) By Pest & Disease - Ability to Scan PPP barcode (1D or 2D)
Access to General & Specific product detail in an efficient manner
Reach out here – we’d love to hear from you!
We’re continually updating our website with new information and resources. Visit us at www.agriguide.eu or scan the QR code
