Germany: Half of Checked Online Offers for Crop Protection Products Were Illegal
Germany's online monitoring unit reviewed 2,334 online offers of crop protection products in 2025 and ruled 52% inadmissible. Many are Chinese products containing substances not approved in the EU.
More than half of the online offers for crop protection products checked in Germany in 2025 were found to be unlawful. The finding comes from the Central Unit for Online Monitoring of Plant Protection (ZOPf), which operates within the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL). It matters to farmers and consumers alike, because buying, trading or using such products is strictly prohibited in Germany.
Inspection results
In 2025 the ZOPf examined 2,334 online offers. Of these, 1,211, or 52%, were classed as inadmissible. In more than 200 cases the unit took action against illegal ads for Chinese crop protection products, filing deletion requests with platform operators. Because the advertisers mostly operate from China or the United States, they quickly place new ads after a removal.
How the scheme works
Since the end of 2024, a wave of illegal crop protection advertising has been spreading online. Targeted ads on Google Ads, social media and video platforms such as YouTube lure farmers and consumers to external web shops. The offers are often not reachable from the shop's regular home page, only through the advertising links. The products promoted are mostly Chinese preparations in foreign containers without German labelling.
The BVL states that products sold in such shops often contain active substances not approved in Germany or anywhere in the EU, for example glufosinate-P-ammonium or hexazinone. Authorities have no knowledge of the actual concentrations, impurities or toxic additives in these products.
What buyers should do
Anyone who has ordered such canisters must not apply them. They must be disposed of as hazardous waste, either for a fee or through the mobile collection point for harmful substances. The BVL advises buying crop protection products only from reputable sellers based in Germany or the EU. Legal products must show a valid German authorisation number in the offer text, and this can be checked before purchase in the BVL's online database.
