Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to Fertilisers"
Date: 2002-01-16
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: approximation of laws, consolidation of EU law, fertiliser

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Official Journal of the European Communities

3.4.2002

Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Regulation of the European
Parliament and of the Council relating to Fertilisers’

(2002/C 80/02)

On 15 October 2001 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 95 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for the Single Market, Production and Consumption, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 17 December 2001. The rapporteur was Mr
Bento Gonçalves.

At its 387th plenary session on 16 and 17 January 2002 (meeting of 16 January) the Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 89 votes with five abstentions.

1.

Introduction

The proposal for a Regulation of the European Parlia-
1.1.
ment and of the Council relating to fertilisers, submitted by
the Commission, aims to harmonise the 18 existing directives
and combine them into a single more readable document,
since they are at present highly complex and diverse.

1.1.1.
The decision to make this a regulation is warranted
by the fact that it is the instrument most suited to securing
such a harmonised approach. A regulation will make
implementation and monitoring easier for Member States and
will also be more convenient for the general public and
European firms.

1.2.
The present proposal is the result of a recast of the
previous texts; part of the new text has been copied from the
previous directives, with a number of amendments to bring it
in line with the new structure. The spirit of the text has not
been significantly altered; however some points stand out:

— improvements to the wording of the texts;

— codification of the texts;

— changes to general and specific comments;

— technical specifications have been withdrawn from the
legal text to be incorporated into the various annexes,
thus making it simpler to use these rules and regulations
and to add other groups of fertilisers without it being
necessary to restructure the whole regulation.

2. Content and gist of the Commission document

the Member States relating to fertilisers. It integrates within a
single text the following Directives:

— Council Directive 76/116/EEC of 18 December 1975 on
the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to fertilisers;

— Council Directive 80/876/EEC of 15 July 1980 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating
to straight ammonium nitrate fertilisers of high nitrogen
content;

— Commission Directive 87/94/EEC of 8 December 1986
on the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to procedures for the control of characteristics
of,
limits for and resistance to detonation of straight
ammonium nitrate fertilisers of high nitrogen content;

— Commission Directive 77/535/EEC of 22 June 1977 on
the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to methods of sampling and analysis for ferti-
lisers,

as well as the 14 amendments and adjustments to technical
progress which have been made to these directives.

The SLIM (1) group’s recommendations to address
2.2.
certain issues in the recast have been taken into account, as
follows:

a)

b)

c)

establishment of an ad-hoc group to advise the Com-
mission;

criteria for the decision on new types of
(including organic);

fertilisers

requirements for types of fertilisers to be added to the
list;

2.1.
The Commission’s proposal is a recast of Council and
Commission Directives on the approximation of the laws of

(1) Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market.

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d)

e)

requirement for mixtures of fertilisers according to com-
patibility;

requirements for peer-reviewing of dossiers of new types
of fertilisers with health and safety concerns;

The present proposal

3.3.
for a regulation is mainly
addressed to the large chemical companies producing mineral
fertilisers and to importers of mineral fertilisers from outside
the European Union. Since this is a recast, no major changes
to the industrial processes will be necessary.

f)

conditions for adding new fertiliser groups;

g)

controls by a network of accredited laboratories and
reports;

4. Specific comments

h)

study group on cadmium;

i) mixture of fertilisers.

This recast, carried out without making any significant
2.3.
change to the content, has been structured in such a way as to
exclude as far as possible all technical specifications from the
legal text, including them in the annexes instead. Thus as a
rule, the legal text has been kept as general as possible.

2.4.
The technical annexes have been compiled from the
original Directives and rearranged. The working group has
reviewed the annexes and has made some changes, albeit
minor ones. In particular, technical specifications on nutrient
content have not been changed and tolerance levels have all
been set out in the annex.

2.5.
The legal instrument chosen is that of a regulation.
This is justified by the many adaptations to technical progress
that this legislation has been and will be subjected to.

3. General comments

3.1.
This recast has been structured in such a way as to
exclude as far as possible all technical specifications from the
legal text, including them in the annexes instead. Thus as a
rule, the legal text has been kept as general as possible. The
fact that the various groups of fertilisers currently covered by
the legislation have been classified in the annexes means that
it is relatively simple to use this regulation and to add other
groups of
it being necessary to
restructure the whole regulation.

fertilisers to it, without

4.1.

List of the main changes to the text

4.1.1.

The 1st, 2nd, 7th, 14th and 15th recitals are new.

4.1.2.
Article 2 is new. Definitions have been given for the
most important terms, the majority of which correspond to
those used by the CEN (European Committee for Standardis-
ation).

4.1.3.
Article 4 was worded in such a way as to highlight
the responsibilities of the person (manufacturer or importer)
placing the fertilisers on the market.

4.1.4.
Article 9 (basically adapted from Article 4 and from
Annex II of Directive 76/116/EEC, Article 1 of Directive
88/183/EEC and Article 4 of Directive 89/530/EEC) includes
new references in the last indent of paragraph a): ‘For blended
fertilisers’ and ‘blend’ after the designation of the type.

4.1.5.
In Article 14 (adapted from Article 8 of Directive
89/530/EEC), the references to plant health in paragraphs a)
and c) are new additions to the reference to human and animal
health which were already in the former text.

4.1.6.
Article 15 (adapted from Article 9 of Directive
80/876/EEC) contains the following new passages: ‘or health
of humans or of animals or a risk to the environment’ in
paragraph 1; and ‘if appropriate, shall without undue delay
consult the relevant technical or scientific committee of the
Commission. The Commission shall inform the Member States
about the conclusions of the said committee’ in paragraph 2.
To date, the safeguard clause now set out in Article 15 was
only included in Directive 80/876/EEC on the approximation
of
the Member States relating to straight
ammonium nitrate fertilisers of high nitrogen content. This will
henceforth apply to all Community legislation on fertilisers.

the laws of

4.1.7.

Article 16 is new.

3.2.
Community legislation on fertilisers aims to secure the
free movement of these products throughout the European
Union, while setting down the specifications that they must
meet. These include composition, labelling and packaging.

In Article 17 (adapted from Articles 1 and 2 of
4.1.8.
Directive 89/284/EEC), the references to calcium in para-
graphs 1 and 2 are new.

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4.1.9.
89/284/EEC) contains a new reference to calcium.

Article 18 (adapted from Article 7 of Directive

4.1.20.

Paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 32 are new.

4.1.10.
In paragraph 4 of Article 19 (adapted from Article 6
of Directive 89/284/EEC), the following passage is new: ‘the
number of decimal places shall be one, except for micro-
nutrients where it shall be as specified in sections E.2.2 and
E.2.3 of Annex I’.

Article 33 (adapted from Article 1 of Directive
4.1.21.
98/97/EC) contains new references:
‘by way of derogation
from Article 5’ and ‘31 December 2004’. The derogation for
Austria, Finland and Sweden mentioned in Article 33 has been
extended until 31 December 2004 to give these Member States
enough time to adopt the Community provisions relating to
cadmium.

4.1.11.

Article 20 is new.

4.1.22.

Articles 34 to 37 are new.

In paragraph 4 of Article 21 (adapted from Article 6
4.1.12.
of Directive 89/284/EEC), the following passage is new: ‘the
number of decimal places shall be one, except for micro-
nutrients, where it shall be as specified in sections E.2.2 and
E.2.3 of Annex I’.

4.1.13.

Article 22 is new.

4.1.14.
89/530/EEC), paragraph 4 is new.

In Article 23 (adapted from Article 4 of Directive

4.1.15.
In Articles 25 to 28 (adapted from Articles 1 to 7
of Directive 80/876/EEC), the sphere of application has been
extended from straight fertilisers to compound ammonium
nitrate fertilisers of high nitrogen content, in response to the
new market situation. Under the old legislation, compound
fertilisers were not subject
to detonation resistance tests,
creating a loophole which the Member States wanted to plug
for safety reasons.

4.2.

List of the main changes to the technical annexes

4.2.1.
The content of Annex I has not been changed but
the tables in parts B and C are now set out in six rather than
nine columns. The content of the first three columns (type
designation, data on method of production and on the
minimum content of nutrients) is now set out horizontally
and, for each type of fertiliser, in a box at the top of the table
concerned.

4.2.2.
In Annex III-3, Method 1, point 1, the following
passage is new: ‘The methods of the closed thermal cycles as
described in this section are regarded as simulating sufficiently
the conditions to be taken into account within the scope of
application of title II, chapter IV, however, these methods may
not necessarily simulate all conditions arising during transport
and storage;’.

4.2.3.

Annex V is new.

4.1.16.
In paragraph 1 of Article 27 (adapted from Article 7
of Directive 80/876/EEC), the reference to ‘on the market
within their territories’ is new.

5. Conclusions

4.1.17.
and all of paragraph 4 are new.

In Article 29, the second sentence of paragraph 1

The Committee endorses the Commission’s proposal which
involves replacing the 18 current directives on fertilisers with
one single directive.

4.1.18.
Article 30 is new, providing a better framework for
analysis and testing. The SLIM group and the Member States
felt it necessary to introduce a quality guarantee system for
laboratories. Because the Member States’ situations are so
diverse, transitional measures have also been introduced (see
Article 34).

4.1.19.

Paragraph 2 of Article 31 is new.

This legislative instrument,

5.1.
in which the technical
specifications have been moved to the annexes, will make it
easier for industrial and importing companies to undertake
initiatives, and will be clearer for farmers and consumers in
general.

The Committee highlights the establishment of an ‘ad

5.2.
hoc’ group to advise the Commission and endorses this.

Brussels, 16 January 2002.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS