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Agricultural drone spraying rules in France

What you need to spray crops with a drone in France: legal status, authorities, permits, requirements and operating limits, with links to the official sources.

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Restricted or by exception. Restricted. Aerial spraying is banned (Rural Code, art. L253-8), but since 2026 the regional prefect can authorise drone programmes with biocontrol, organic-approved or low-risk products on plots with a slope of 20% or more, banana plantations and ground-trained rootstock vineyards. Other crops are possible only in trial programmes of up to three years.

Who regulates it

What you need

  • An application programme authorised by the regional prefect. Apply at least 2 months before the first application; an authorisation lasts at most 5 years. (legifrance.gouv.fr)
  • Use only products approved by the Minister of Agriculture for drone application (biocontrol, organic-approved or low-risk products). (legifrance.gouv.fr)
  • Operators handling the products and flying the drone must hold the individual certificate (Certiphyto). Service providers need the agrément under art. L254-1. (legifrance.gouv.fr)
  • A DGAC operational authorisation for the drone operation (specific category). (ecologie.gouv.fr)
  • Aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of 200 kg or less, fitted with best-available drift-reduction technology, and a sprayer inspection report. (legifrance.gouv.fr)
  • Warn residents, workers and the public in time, as required by the authorisation, and report any incident without delay. (legifrance.gouv.fr)

How to get authorised

  1. Check that the plots qualify: slope of 20% or more, banana plantation, or ground-trained rootstock vineyard. Anything else can only be a trial programme. (legifrance.gouv.fr)
  2. Obtain the DGAC operational authorisation for the drone. (ecologie.gouv.fr)
  3. Gather the Certiphyto certificates, the agrément if you are a service provider, and the sprayer inspection report. (legifrance.gouv.fr)
  4. File the programme application with the regional prefect at least 2 months before the first application: plots, crop, treatment calendar and products, aircraft and drift-reduction measures, DGAC authorisation. (legifrance.gouv.fr)
  5. Treat only as authorised and follow the general and specific prescriptions. (legifrance.gouv.fr)

Operating limits for spraying

  • No higher than 3 m above the treated crop and no faster than 18 km/h (arrêté du 29 mai 2026, art. 5).
  • Maximum take-off mass 200 kg (arrêté du 29 mai 2026, art. 2).
  • Untreated buffer of at least 10 m from water points (arrêté du 29 mai 2026, art. 5).
  • At least 20 m, or the larger distance set in the DGAC authorisation, from sites with vulnerable people, homes, places where people regularly work and public areas (arrêté du 29 mai 2026, art. 6).
  • Plant protection products may be used only when wind is at or below force 3 on the Beaufort scale (arrêté du 4 mai 2017, art. 2).

Good to know

  • An arrêté of 19 May 2026 lists the plant protection products approved for drone application. All are biocontrol, organic-approved or low-risk products.
  • Trial programmes on other crops last at most three years. If the trials show clear benefits, a ministerial arrêté may add those plot or crop types.

Checked against official sources on 2026-09-18. Rules change: confirm with the authorities before operating. This page is a planning summary, not legal advice. The product label and the official rules always prevail.

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