EU Regulation 2019/1009 will be mandatory as of July 16 and will regulate access to the community market for biostimulants and other fertilizer products for the first time. Until the entry into force of this legislation, these products were only marketed in accordance with the national legislation of each of the Member States of the European Union.
The Annex I of the FPR details the seven functional categories of products (FCP) contemplated in this new legislation. The FCP must meet a certain function to acquire this categorization based on the product's mode of action, the relative concentration of its different components or any other relevant parameter, in addition, the products must be composed of the categories of component materials specified in the Annex II of the Regulation.
It is important to point out that this regulation is the first time that an official definition of what a biostimulant is has been reached in a consensual manner. In the FPR a biostimulant is defines as follows:
Product stimulating plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient
content with the sole aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of
the plant or the plant rhizosphere:
- Nutrient use efficiency
- Tolerance to Abiotic stress
- Quality traits
- Availability of confined nutrients in soil or rhizosphere.
The CABs (conformity assessment bodies) will carry out the conformity assessment of the registration documentation, they will certify that the product complies with the FPR regulation. At the moment there are only 3 notified bodies that carry out conformity assessment, but most companies that carry out efficacy tests or carry out certification processes can request accreditation as notified bodies and evaluate the 4 conformity assessment modules. conformity provided for in the regulation.
The entry into force of the FPR is good news for the growth and development of fertilizer market. Although there are still aspects to be specified within the regulatory framework, as of July 16, the free community circulation of fertilizer products will open, some of them, such as biostimulants, until now were only marketed nationally.
