The HRIs (Harmonized Risk Indicators) available here are calculated using the method defined and detailed in Annex IV of Directive 2009/128/EC. The HRI1 and HRI2 indices are based on the relative abundance (%) of plant protection products placed on the market since 2011-2013. With HRI1, abundance is based on the mass of active substance placed on the market each year. With HRI2, abundance is based on the number of emergency authorisations issued annually.
Active substances are grouped into four groups and seven categories according to their nature:
- Group 1 is made up of low-risk micro-organisms (category A) and low-risk chemical substances (category B).
- Group 2 is made up of micro-organisms (category C) and chemical substances (category D) approved under Regulation 1107/2009 and not included in the other groups.
- Group 3 is made up of candidate substances for substitution, divided into two categories E and F according to the criteria for classification as a candidate for substitution.
- Group 4 is made up of chemical substances that are not (or are no longer) approved under Regulation 1107/2009. These substances form category G.
The order of the groups and categories corresponds to the intrinsic increase in danger of the active substances, irrespective of their application.
The HRI1 and HRI2 indicators aggregate the values obtained for groups 1 to 4, weighting them by a factor of 1, 8, 16 or 64 respectively. In this way, any change in the abundance of group 4 has 64 times more influence on the aggregate indicator than the same change in group 1.
By constructing the HRI1 and HRI2 indicators in this way, the European Commission is using the available statistics to illustrate the effects of the European policy of reducing the risks associated with placing plant protection products on the market.
It should be noted that this way of measuring risk has nothing to do with the measurement of risk used in risk assessment under Regulation 1107/2009.
In short, when the index for a category increases, this means that the corresponding active substances have been more abundant. On the other hand, aggregating the indices for each category into a single HRI index no longer represents the abundance of active substances (HRI1) or the abundance of emergency authorisations (HRI2), because the highest categories are artificially over-represented.