L 236/6
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
13.9.2022
(4)
Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 lays down an obligation for the registration of magnesia in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006.
However, Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 exempts magnesia, which is not chemically modified, from the registration obligation, as the registration is deemed inappropriate or unnecessary for that substance and its exemption from the registration obligation does not jeopardise the objectives of that Regulation.
Magnesia has a long history of use in fertilisers and has no harmonised classification in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5).
Taking that into account and in order to facilitate the access to the internal market of fertilisers containing magnesia as EU fertilising products, the registration obligation laid down in Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 should no longer apply to magnesia used in fertilisers.
(5)
Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 lays down requirements for inhibitors as EU fertilising products belonging to PFC 5 and for EU fertilising products containing inhibitors as a component material belonging to CMC 1.
To avoid any confusions, the terminology used in that Regulation should be amended to reflect the distinction between the two situations.
Thus, the term ‘inhibiting compound’ should be used whenever it concerns a substance or mixture which improves the nutrient release pattern of a nutrient by delaying or stopping the activity of specific groups of microorganisms or enzyme.
The term ‘inhibitor’ should be used only when it refers to EU fertilising products belonging to PFC 5.
This distinction is important as inhibitors may be mixtures containing other substances, like stabilisers, in addition to inhibiting compounds.
Correct use of those terms is necessary to facilitate the free movement of EU fertilising products, by clearly laying down the rules applicable in each situation.
(6)
Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 includes requirements ensuring that the inhibiting compounds are efficient, but does not lay down requirements on the efficiency of the fertiliser or the blend containing such an inhibiting compound.
The use of efficient products containing such substances helps avoiding the environmental pollution caused by the leaching of nitrogen.
Commission Communications titled ‘Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All EU Action Plan: “Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil”’ (6) and ‘A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system’ (7) mention the environmental concerns and the ambitious targets to reduce nutrient losses by 50 % by 2030.
It is therefore important to ensure that the EU fertilising products, which contain inhibiting compounds, are efficient.
Therefore, Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 should be amended to include a requirement that inhibiting compounds are present in fertilisers (PFC 1) or in fertilising product blend (PFC 7) in a concentration, which is within the range of concentrations that ensures the efficiency of the inhibiting compound.
Furthermore, additional labelling requirements should ensure that the manufacturers of inhibitors referred to in PFC 5 provide clear instructions on how to mix such products with a fertiliser to ensure their efficiency.
(7)
Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 lays down rules on the use of fresh crop digestate and on digestate other than fresh crop digestate, hereafter commonly referred to as ‘digestate’, as component materials in EU fertilising products.
That Regulation lays down rules for the digestion processes.
However, it does not provide for any other rules for post processing of the digestate.
(8)
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) report titled ‘End-of-waste criteria for biodegradable waste subjected to biological treatment (compost & digestate): Technical proposals’ (8) states that digestate is often used in agriculture, either as a whole or following separation in a solid and liquid fraction.
That separation facilitates the storing of materials and their long-distance transport, which is especially important for a CE marked product.
The mechanical separation of a digestate in the solid and liquid fractions is a commonly used method in some Member States and seems to be a well-established method according to a recent study titled ‘Digestate and compost as fertilisers: Risk assessment and
(5) Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repealing Directives 67/548/EEC and 1999/45/EC, and amending Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (OJ L 353, 31.12.2008, p. 1).
(6) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All EU Action Plan: ‘Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil’, COM(2021) 400 final of 12 May 2021.
(7) Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system, COM(2020) 381 final of 20 May 2020.
(8) Saveyn H, Eder P.
End-of-waste criteria for biodegradable waste subjected to biological treatment (compost and digestate): Technical proposals, EUR 26425, Publications Office of the European Union, 2013.
JRC87124.