The Single European Market allows trade with plant protection products as part of the free movement of goods between the different Member States of the European Union. Plant protection products which are authorised in an EU Member State and are identical in their composition to a plant protection product authorised in Germany (reference product) do not need to be authorised in Germany in order to be able to be placed on the market or used there. However, according to Article 52 of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 they must have been approved for parallel trade (called a parallel import permit up to 13 June 2011). The list of valid approvals (or parallel import permits) for parallel trade can be retrieved on the right. In principle, all the plant protection products in the list may be used by anybody. However, they may only be imported and placed on the market for the first time by the owners stated in the table.

An approval for parallel trade is also required (Article 51 German Plant Protection Act - PflSchG) for the use of plant protection products which the user acquired in another Member State for his own use. Details on submitting the application, the parallel trade procedure and decision criteria can be found under the heading "For applicants > Parallel trade".

A plant protection product for which an approval for parallel trade has been granted is to be used in the same way as the corresponding reference product. It may only be used for fields of application which are authorised for the reference product. Similarly, the conditions of application and restrictions which were stipulated for the reference product must be observed. The deadline of 18 months according to Article 12 (5) sentence 1 PflSchG for using up products also applies to plant protection products approved for parallel trade.

The German Federal States are responsible for plant protection inspections, which include operator inspections. These inspections also cover plant protection products approved for parallel trade.