When FOCUS Surface Water Repair comes into force, it will require a radical re-evaluation of product portfolios, mitigations, timings, crops and doses. It matters when this new assessment comes into force, and it is getting closer. The latest ScoPAFF summary has highlighted renewed discussions surrounding the FOCUS Surface Water (FOCUS SW) Repair project, marking further progress in the ongoing review of surface water exposure assessment approaches.

FOCUS surface water scenarios are used within the regulatory assessment of plant protection products to estimate predicted environmental concentrations in surface water (PECsw).  The EFSA surface water repair action was undertaken to improve the regulatory exposure assessment scenarios used for pesticide risk assessment, with the most significant change being the extension of simulation periods from 1 ½ to 20 years to better capture long-term variability in surface water exposure. New versions of the FOCUS models have been developed in line with the EFSA report and are currently under review by the FOCUS Version Control group.

One of the key areas currently under discussion is the selection of the temporal percentile concentration to be applied when deriving PECsw values. During recent ScoPAFF discussions, 11 Member States indicated an initial preference for the use of the 90% temporal percentile concentration. One Member State has since changed their position and advised the Commission to wait until the models have been validated.

Nevertheless, the Commission indicated their intention to proceed with endorsing the temporal percentile at the subsequent Committee meeting, which was held at the end of June. The meeting minutes have not yet been published.

Applicants are encouraged to remain aware of ongoing developments and consider how upcoming changes may affect their active substance and product portfolios.

At Enviresearch, we continue to monitor regulatory developments closely, and support clients in navigating evolving requirements through expert regulatory and scientific consultancy.

Post-edit (27th July 2026):

The minutes from the June ScoPAFF meeting have now been published and confirm that the 90th temporal percentile was formally adopted by the Commission on the 30th of June. The output from the FOCUS repair models will be updated accordingly.

Get in touch with our team for further advice.