UK rodenticide stewardship regimes
To address the concerns relating to risks posed to the environment, HSE considered that it was vital to ensure that professional use anticoagulant rodenticide products were used responsibly and in a way that avoided unnecessary risks to the environment.
In 2012, HSE developed and consulted on a series of proposals for regulatory environmental risk mitigations that could be applied to anticoagulant rodenticide products. Following discussion with a range of stakeholders, including government departments and agencies, stewardship was proposed by HSE as a regulatory policy measure to ensure that the risks from anticoagulant use were minimised.
HSE established a stewardship framework with an aim to ensure that industry took responsibility for the long-term impacts of their activities.
Alongside the regulatory restrictions imposed on the supply and use of rodenticides by the conditions of their authorisation, stewardship arrangements allow for the monitoring of their use and practical implementation of controls over who is able to use them, supporting their use only when absolutely necessary.
Compliance with the stewardship framework was set as a condition of authorisation for professional use anticoagulant rodenticide products.
In September 2020, rodenticide stewardship was extended to include products containing the newly approved active substance cholecalciferol, due to the similar environmental risks its use presents.
High-level principles
The approach to the development and operation of rodenticide stewardship is shaped by the following benefits that are expected to arise from a functional stewardship scheme:
- governance of the supply chain, ensuring that professional rodenticide products are only supplied to approved retail outlets and sold to those trained to use them as part of an IPM strategy
- a competent workforce capable of delivering stewardship standards and of demonstrating an appropriate understanding and attitude toward case-specific control of rodents and use of rodenticides
- monitoring compliance with the regime and its environmental impacts and, if possible, an assessment of whether rodenticides and stewardship together are actually tackling the problems
As the basis for delivering the key benefits a set of high-level principles were agreed and published in 2015. Those principles are:
- use of integrated pest management (IPM), including use of rodenticides, involving a hierarchy of risk controls for rodents
- responsible use of rodenticides, when demonstrated they are needed, because of their potential threat to human, animal health and the environment
- applicability to all suppliers, handlers and professional users of rodenticides in scope of stewardship, to address these risks
- the need for the regime to be robust, effective, and workable, while remaining as simple as possible
- the need for the regime to cover the whole lifecycle of the rodenticide products: manufacture, supply chain, end-use, disposal and environmental fate
- the enabling of good practice in the control of rodent populations, as part of an IPM system, while minimising resistance build-up and secondary poisoning in non-target species
Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use UK (CRRU UK)
The CRRU UK has developed a stewardship regime in the UK that meets the regime principles set out by the UK government.
The regime was developed with a number of different industry sectors, including:
- manufacturing (active substances and products)
- distribution
- professional pest control
- gamekeeping
- farming
The regime includes a framework of:
- guidelines for safe and effective use set out in a code of best practice
- training
- certification
- auditing
- point of sale verification of competence
- supply chain governance
- effective communication across target sectors
From 1 April 2016, it became a requirement that any company wishing to supply professional use anticoagulant rodenticides in the UK must be a member of CRRU UK.
Following the extension of stewardship in September 2020, any company wishing to supply cholecalciferol rodenticides in the UK must also be a member of CRRU UK.
To date, no other UK rodenticide stewardship regimes have been developed.
Since the regime began, it has been overseen by the Government Oversight Group (GOG) for Rodenticide Stewardship.
Government oversight group
The Government Oversight Group (GOG) for Rodenticide Stewardship oversees the CRRU UK stewardship regime and ensures that the regime operates as intended.
The oversight group membership includes a number of government departments and agencies, each with their own area of regulatory focus or policy responsibility relating to the use of rodenticides. Current membership includes:
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
- HSE
- HSENI
- Natural England
- Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA)
- UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
- Welsh Government
Independent scientific advice is provided to the oversight group by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH).
HSE’s role as chair of the oversight group is separate and independent from its role as the competent authority for GB BPR. Accordingly, oversight group member regulators remain able to take independent or coordinated action within their areas of responsibility, and HSE may, where necessary, take independent regulatory action on rodenticide products or active substances.
Annually, CRRU UK is required to report to the oversight group with data and information on the operation of the stewardship scheme, including monitoring and analysis of data.
The oversight group considers this evidence and assesses whether the regime continues to meet the expectations set out in the high-level principles for stewardship. The evaluation criteria applied are:
- evidence that the industry has put in place what it said it would
- evidence or indicators of industry’s response or changes of user behaviour
- evidence or indicators of impact
Decisions are taken to make changes to the regime on the basis of the evidence and conclusions drawn.
Reports
The oversight group meets annually to consider whether the CRRU UK regime continues to meet the high-level principles. HSE publishes the minutes or outcomes of the annual meetings on their behalf.
- 2025 Report on the Rodenticide Stewardship Regime
- 2024 Report on the Rodenticide Stewardship Regime
- 2021 Report on the Rodenticide Stewardship Regime
Annual reports were not prepared for 2022 and 2023 due to the availability of key personnel.
You can view earlier reports using the archived copies of this page on the National Archives website.
Review and recommendations for strengthening the CRRU UK rodenticide stewardship regime
As part of establishing stewardship, in addition to agreeing arrangements for the annual assessment of the CRRU UK regime, the oversight group also set a requirement that the CRRU UK regime should be reviewed after 5 years of operation.
The oversight group has considered the operation of the regime over the initial five-year period, taking into account data submitted by CRRU UK between 2016 and 2020, and incorporating the latest data where available.