Government departments

Responsibility for the approval of pesticides rests with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport and Local Regions (for the Health and Safety Executive), the Department of Health, the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department, the National Assembly of Wales and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland (who publish their own regulations).

The Food Standards Agency has oversight on all matters relating to the safety of food.

The pesticide registration authorities

There are two authorities responsible for the registration of pesticides:
Pesticides Safety Directorate (PSD), an agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which deals largely with agricultural pesticides;

Biocides and Pesticides Unit of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which deals argely with non-agricultural pesticides and biocides.

In addition to the evaluation and processing of applications for approval of agricultural pesticides, PSD is also responsible for advising Ministers on the development and enforcement of pesticide policy and legislation, and advises Ministers on all aspects of pesticides approvals policy. This includes data protection, public access to information, and better regulation. It also provides, with HSE, the secretariats for the ACP and its sub-groups.