DEAS 906: 2023  
ICS 65.080  
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                          Second  Edition 2023   
  DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Fertilizers — Triple Superphosphate  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 906:2023  
ii © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
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© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Sta ndards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and serv ices are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including go vernment, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for develop ment of East African Standards . 
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are th erefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 020, Agriculture and 
agrochemicals . 
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 906: 2023  
 
© EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  1 
 Fertilizers — Triple Superphosph ate — Specification  
1 Scope   
This draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for Triple Super  
Phosphate (TSP) fertilizer.  
2 Normative references   
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some  or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document.  For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
AOAC 965.08, Water (free) in  fertilizers — Vacuum -desiccation  
AOAC 2006.03, Arsenic, Cadmium, Cobalt, Chromium, Lead, Molybdenum, Nickel and Selenium in fertilizers  
ISO 2993 , Ammonium sulphate for industrial use — Determination of free acidity — Titrimetric method  
ISO 6598 , Fertili zers — Determination of phosphorus content — Quinoline phosphomolybdate gravimetric 
method  
ISO 8157 , Fertilizer s, soil conditioners  and beneficial substances  — Vocabulary  
ISO 8397 , Solid fertilizers and soil conditioners — Test sieving  
ISO 17318 , Fertilize rs and soil conditioners — Determination of arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and 
mercury contents  
ISO 14820 -1, Fertilizers and liming materials - Sampling and sample preparation - Part 1: Sampling  
 ISO 148 20-2, Fertilizers and liming materials - Sampling a nd sample preparation - Part 2: Sample preparation  
ISO 7409, Fertilizers  -Marking - Presentation and declarations  
 
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 8157  shall apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain ter minological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp  
  
2 © EAC  2023  – All rights reserved  
 4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  The fertilizer shall be free flowing in granular or prilled forms, uniform in colour and free from foreign 
matter.   
4.1.2     The particle size of the granular material, shall be such that not less than 90 % by mass of fertilizer, 
shall be of particles size range of 2 mm – 4 mm and  for prilled material shall be of particles size range of 1 mm 
– 4 mm when tested in accordance with ISO 8397 .4.2 Specific requirements  
Triple Superphosphate fertilizer shall comply with the specific requirements given  in Table 1  when tested in 
accordance with the test methods prescribed therein . 
Table  1 — Specific r equirements for Triple Superphosphate  fertilizer  
S/N Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Available  phosphates, (as P 2O5), % by mass, 
min. 46 ISO 6598   
 
ii.  Water soluble phosphates, as P 2O5, % by 
mass, min. 42  ISO 5316  
iii.  Free phosphoric acid as P 2O5, % by mass , 
max.  3.0 ISO 2993  
iv.  Moisture, % by mass, max.  5.0 AOAC 965.08  
 
5 Contaminants  
Heavy metal contaminants in Triple Superphosphate fertilizer  shall conform to the limits given in Table 2 when 
tested in accordance with the test methods prescribed therein . 
Table 2 — Requirements for heavy metal contaminants  in Triple Superphosphate fertilizer   
S/N Heavy metal  Requirement  Test method  
i.  Arsenic , (As), mg/kg, max . 40 
ISO 17318  ii.  Cadmium  (Cd),  mg/kg P2O5, 
max.  45 
iii.  Mercury (Hg), mg/kg, max . 0.1 
iv.  Lead , mg/kg, max.  30 
v.  Chromium (Cr), mg/kg, max.  500 
vi.  Selenium  (Se), mg/kg, max.  1.0 AOAC 2006.03  
 vii.  Nickel (Ni), mg/kg, max  120 
  
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved  3 
 7 Packaging  
The fertilizer shall be packaged in materials that are clean and non -defective that protect the product from 
physical, chemical and moisture contamination and withstand multiple stages of handling (transportation and 
storage).  
8 Labelling  
Each package shall be legibly and indelibly label led in accordance w ith ISO 7409 in English and/or any other 
official language  of the destination country  with the following information:  
a) name of the fertili zer; Triple Superphosphate (TSP) fertilizer  
b) brand name  if any ; 
c) name and address of the manufacturer/packer ; 
d) net content  by mass, in metric units ;      
e) nutrient content ; 
f) country of origin ; 
g) handling  instructions, including the words “ Use no hooks” ; 
h) production dat e  
i)  expiry dat e; 
j) batch number ; and  
k) storage conditions . 
9 Sampling  
Sampling and sample preparation of Triple Super Phosphate  fertilizers shall be carried out as prescribed in 
ISO 14820 -1 and ISO 14820 -2 respectively.  
 
 
 
. DEAS 906: 2023    
 
© EAC 2023  – All rights reserved