To develop either an animal health or a plant protection product costs approximately €200m and takes 10 years in research and development. Only 1:20,000 molecules discovered will actually make it to the market.

In Ireland, the Health Products Registration Authority (HPRA) and the Pesticide Registration & Control Division (PRCD) licence animal health and plant protection products respectively. Highly qualified and independent regulators assess the products in advance of marketing, providing essential reassurance in relation to public safety.

In order to ensure the correct use of products, the regulatory authorities carry out ongoing monitoring of food products in relation to residue presence. The Department of Agriculture and Food analyses approximately 70,000 samples of animal derived food products per year. Average yearly results show that less than 0.58% of samples breach the residue limits. In the plant protection area, the monitoring programme indicates that less than 3.3% of fruit and vegetable samples breach the residue limits. Where breaches of the residue limits occur, actions are taken immediately to prevent recurrence.