LEGAL REGULATION OF PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES APPLICATION IN VEGETATION IN UKRAINE IN THE LIGHT OF EU REQUIREMENTS

The article is devoted to the characterization of phytosanitary legislation of Ukraine through the prism of EU requirements. It is indicated that in Ukraine there is a fairly extensive phytosanitary legislation, based on the Law of Ukraine «On Plant Protection» which contains a legal definition of the basic concept. Based on the analysis of this law, the main features of the legal category «plant protection» are identified and characterized as: systemic, preventive economic and environmental goals, a broad object structure of plant protection relations and protection against biological threats (pests (insects, mites, microorganisms, nematodes), rodents), pathogens (phytopathogens: viruses, bacteria, fungi), weeds (unwanted vegetation in lands, crops, plantations of crops, which competes with them for light, water, nutrients, and contributes to the spread of pests and diseases)). Particular attention is paid to the characteristics of the basic requirements for plant protection, which are divided into three groups, namely: technological requirements, environmental and legal requirements. It is established that in contrast to the limited and debatable list of rights of agricultural entities in the field of plant protection, the responsibilities of such entities are quite detailed and presented in the article in three groups: responsibilities for independent action; responsibilities for promoting the actions of others; responsibilities for the handling of plant protection products. It was found that the legislator in formulating the general responsibilities of agricultural entities (in the opinion of the author of the article), missed an important obligation to apply integrated plant protection, and this aspect is quite fundamental. Based on the analysis of EU legislation, the idea that the implementation of the principles of integrated pest management should be mandatory, and the implementation of integrated pest management is the growth of healthy crops with minimal possible disturbances in agroecosystems and the promotion of natural pest control mechanisms. Methods of plant protection are considered and characterized. The conclusion is substantiated that the modern integrated system of measures is based on the complex application of agrotechnical, chemical and biological methods of plant protection, where the main criterion is the optimization of the chemical method of protection.