1. Contact | ||||||
1.1 Contact organisation | ||||||
Istat - Italian National Institute of Statistics | ||||||
1.2 Contact organisation unit | ||||||
ATC - Division for agricultural statistics and surveys | ||||||
1.3 Contact name | ||||||
Giovanni Seri | ||||||
1.4 Contact person function | ||||||
Giovanni Seri, Division for agricultural statistics and surveys | ||||||
1.5 Contact mail address | ||||||
Piazza Marconi 26/c 00144 Rome Italy | ||||||
1.6 Contact email address | ||||||
1.7 Contact phone number | ||||||
1.8 Contact fax number | ||||||
2. Statistical presentation | ||||||
2.1 Data description | ||||||
The survey takes into consideration all enterprises which distribute pesticides in Italy, for each province, either under their own brand or foreign brands. The main variables surveyed are: quantity of pesticide product and quantity of the active substances (produced in Italy or imported) distributed with own trademark for only agricultural use, for each province. When the pesticides are imported, the enterprise can state the pesticides distributed with other trademark (if they haven’t their appropriate trademark). The term pesticide indicates those products containing or comprised of substances intended for various uses, including protecting plants or plant products from harmful organisms, destroying unwanted plants or parts of plants. The term active substances refers to all substances which exert a general or specific action against harmful organisms or on plants or parts of them. Phenomena investigated are: - sale of pesticides, per category (fungicide, insecticide and acaricides, herbicide, biological, other and insect traps), toxicity class and province (Nuts III level); - sale of the active substances authorised for the market. Biological products and traps were introduced in the survey, in order to complete the survey | ||||||
2.2 Classification system | ||||||
Annex III of the Regulation 1185/2009 and revisions | ||||||
2.3 Coverage - sector | ||||||
Chemical industry | ||||||
2.4 Statistical concepts and definitions | ||||||
Geographic distribution of quantity sold | ||||||
2.5 Statistical unit | ||||||
Type of products and active substances contained in pesticides for each province (NUT3) | ||||||
2.6 Statistical population | ||||||
Enterprises which distribute pesticides with their own brand | ||||||
2.7 Reference area | ||||||
Italy | ||||||
2.8 Coverage - Time | ||||||
2011-2017 | ||||||
2.9 Base period | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
3. Statistical processing | ||||||
3.1 Source data | ||||||
Pesticides sales statistics stem from an ideal census survey covering each enterprise which may sell pesticides for agricultural use in Italy, either under their own brand or foreign brands. | ||||||
3.2 Frequency of data collection | ||||||
Frequency is annual | ||||||
3.3 Data collection | ||||||
Self-administered data collection - via electronic transmission through the upload of excel file on Istat web site (INDATA through Business Portal) | ||||||
3.4 Data validation | ||||||
Data are validated to the following action: | ||||||
3.5 Data compilation | ||||||
Aggregates are produced by summing individual data. | ||||||
3.6 Adjustment | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
4. Quality management | ||||||
4.1 Quality assurance | ||||||
Since the 90s Istat adopted a systematic approach to ensure quality in both statistical information and service to the community. For this purpose, the Italian National Institute of Statistics has defined a quality policy providing itself with appropriate tools as well as management changes to carry it out. Istat quality policy is aimed at the improvement of statistical outputs and processes through the development of appropriate methodologies and tools as well as an appropriate scientific and technical support, provided to the personnel directly involved in the production and dissemination of statistical information. Istat quality policy is coherent with the European framework developed by Eurostat, taking up its main principles and definitions. The European Statistics Code of Practice establishes the principles to follow in order to ensure and strengthen both accountability and governance of the European Statistical System and the National Statistical Systems inside it. Essential points of Istat quality policy are:
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4.2 Quality management - assessment | ||||||
Surveys on sales have been conducted in Istat for several years and the content is very detailed in terms of information on pesticides and in terms of geographical detail. The survey is included in the National Statistical Programme. It is a census based survey conducted every year. | ||||||
5. Relevance | ||||||
5.1 Relevance - User Needs | ||||||
Main data users: Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Heath, The Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale). For example, ISPRA uses the data to produce the national report on the presence of pesticides in water that provides information on on the risks due ti the presence of these substances in water. | ||||||
5.2 Relevance - User Satisfaction | ||||||
We do not measure user satisfaction for this survey | ||||||
5.3 Completeness | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
5.3.1 Data completeness - rate | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6. Accuracy and reliability | ||||||
6.1 Accuracy - overall | ||||||
Quite satisfactory | ||||||
6.2 Sampling error | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.2.1 Sampling error - indicators | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.3 Non-sampling error | ||||||
The survey adopts several quality control actions during the different stages of the process to prevent, monitoring and reduce the effect of non-sampling errors on estimates. | ||||||
6.3.1 Coverage error | ||||||
The list of enterprises for the Survey is managed by Istat (Italian National Statistical Institute). | ||||||
6.3.1.1 Over-coverage - rate | ||||||
Over coverage rate for 2017 edition = 1,43% Calculated according to the formula reported in ESS GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ESS QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (QPI) with α=1 (The estimated proportion of cases of unknown eligibility that are actually eligible) | ||||||
6.3.1.2 Common units - proportion | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.3.2 Measurement error | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.3.3 Non response error | ||||||
The quality actions to control unit nonresponse are: Survey presentation letter signed by Istat PresidentCollecting identification codes of nonrespondent units Telephone follow-ups Collecting nonresponse causes during data collection Ad hoc analysis to evaluate effects of unit nonresponse Special care in writing clear instructions to fill-in questionnaires Follow-ups by e-mail Written description of survey objectives Establishing a toll free line or telephone number for further explanations Guarantees on statistical confidentiality | ||||||
6.3.3.1 Unit non-response - rate | ||||||
Unit nonresponse rate for 2017 edition = 14,49% Calculated according to the formula reported in ESS GUIDELINES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ESS QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (QPI) with α=1 (The estimated proportion of cases of unknown eligibility that are actually eligible) | ||||||
6.3.3.2 Item non-response - rate | ||||||
For the variable "total quantity of pesticides" it is almost 0 | ||||||
6.3.4 Processing error | ||||||
The phase of editing data is done comparing at level of each active substances; imputation of errors and missing value (unit non response or item non response) are carried out with methodological statistical model. | ||||||
6.3.4.1 Imputation - rate | ||||||
The imputation rate is:
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6.3.5 Model assumption error | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.4 Seasonal adjustment | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.5 Data revision - policy | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.6 Data revision - practice | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
6.6.1 Data revision - average size | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
7. Timeliness and punctuality | ||||||
7.1 Timeliness | ||||||
Data are disseminated at national level yearly Timeliness - days 339 | ||||||
7.1.1 Time lag - first result | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
7.1.2 Time lag - final result | ||||||
Timeliness: Edition 2017 = 339 days | ||||||
7.2 Punctuality | ||||||
Istat internal dissemination plan is achieved. | ||||||
7.2.1 Punctuality - delivery and publication | ||||||
0 days (as we do not have any press release) | ||||||
8. Coherence and comparability | ||||||
8.1 Comparability - geographical | ||||||
Standard definitions are adopted to achieve comparability within the ESS | ||||||
8.1.1 Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
8.2 Comparability - over time | ||||||
Pesticides statistics are produced since 1998 and are available on the web site since 2003 | ||||||
8.2.1 Length of comparable time series | ||||||
Length of comparable time series:
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8.3 Coherence - cross domain | ||||||
Comparable statistics stemming from other data sources or statistical domains are not available or they are not exhaustive. Coherence is checked mainly over time. | ||||||
8.4 Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
8.5 Coherence - National Accounts | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
8.6 Coherence - internal | ||||||
Internal coherence is assured by means of controls during the processing phases | ||||||
9. Accessibility and clarity | ||||||
9.1 Dissemination format - News release | ||||||
No news release | ||||||
9.2 Dissemination format - Publications | ||||||
No publications | ||||||
9.3 Dissemination format - online database | ||||||
I.Stat is the corporate statistical datawarehouse currently implemented at the Italian National Institute of Statistics. Within the web platform, statistical data are organised in the form of datasets, i.e. a collection of numerical values and their associated textual information. In order to browse data, follow the path Agriculture: Production means : Plant protection products: Active substatnces contained. Available years: 2003-2017. In addition, for a number of relevant topics Istat has reorganized the information within ad-hoc thematic systems. Accordingly, the Agricultural and livestock informative system is made available to final users. In order to browse data, follow the path Home : data : browse data : production means : plant protection products: active substances in plant protection products. Available years: 2003-2017. | ||||||
9.3.1 Data tables - consultations | ||||||
Within the I.Stat corporate statistical datawarehouse, during 2018 there were 2,481 consultations of the "Plant protection products" dataset. | ||||||
9.4 Dissemination format - microdata access | ||||||
Bodies belonging to the Italian Statistical System can apply for microdata access | ||||||
9.5 Dissemination format - other | ||||||
no references | ||||||
9.6 Documentation on methodology | ||||||
Information on the survey are available on istat web site | ||||||
9.7 Quality management - documentation | ||||||
The Istat Information system on quality of statistical production processes SIQual contains information on the execution on Istat statistical production processes and on activities developed to guarantee quality of the produced statistical information. For details: Survey on plant protection products provided for agricultural use | ||||||
9.7.1 Metadata completeness - rate | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
9.7.2 Metadata - consultations | ||||||
Not applicable | ||||||
10. Cost and Burden | ||||||
Approximately 50,000 euros | ||||||
11. Confidentiality | ||||||
11.1 Confidentiality - policy | ||||||
Several national legal acts guarantee the confidentiality of data requested for statistical purposes.
According to art. 9, paragraph 1 of the Legislative Decree n. 322 of 1989, personal data cannot be disseminated but in aggregated form, in order to make it impossible to make any reference to identifiable individuals. They can only be used for statistical purposes.
Legislative Decree n. 322 of 1989, art. 6 bis and Legislative Decree n. 196 of 2003 Annex A3 (Code of conduct and professional practice applying to the processing of personal data for statistical and scientific research purposes within the framework of the national statistical system), art. 8, provide that the exchange of personal data within the National Statistical System (Sistan) is possible if it is necessary to fulfil requirements provided by the National Statistical Programme or to allow the pursuit of institutional purposes. The supply of the identification data of statistical units is allowed within the framework of entities included in the National Statistical System if the requesting party declares that no identical statistical result can be obtained otherwise .
Regarding subjects who do not belong to Sistan, Article. 7 of the Code of conduct (Decree n. 196/2003, Annex A3) states that it is possible to transmit individual data files without direct identifiers within the framework of specific laboratories set up by entities included in the National Statistical System, under certain conditions and only if that the data are protected by the application of different statistical methods that make it highly unlikely the identification of statistical units. | ||||||
11.2 Confidentiality - data treatment | ||||||
During the phase of data treatment, the confidentality is assured by different storage of two different datasets: one contains the microdata with identification code of enterprise, and second dataset contains the identification code and the address of enterprise. Threshold rule applied to data transmitted to Eurostat: active substances distributed by less then 3 enterprises are flagged as confidential. | ||||||
12. Comment | ||||||
No comment |