Representatives of the European Parliament and the EU Council marked an interim inter-institutional agreement on Tuesday 20 November on the proposal to revise the Regulation (2003/2003) relative to the fertiliser market in the European Union.
The maximum content of cadmium - a heavy metal that penetrates the food chain - in phosphate fertilisers has been set at 60 mg/kg to reduce risks to health and the environment.
Applicable three years after the entry into force of the Regulation, this provision will only apply to fertilisers intended to be marketed in the EU. This does not apply to fertilisers remaining on a national market.
Originally, the Commission proposed to reduce the maximum limit for cadmium to 60 mg/kg at the time of entry into force of the Regulation and to 40 mg/kg three years later (six years for the European Parliament (see EUROPE 11891). Fourteen EU Member States have already introduced a limit of 60 µg/kg or less of phosphate (see EUROPE 12139).
The negotiators inserted an appointment clause, four years after the date of application of the future rules, to study the feasibility of reducing this limit value. The possibility of labelling - on a voluntary basis - fertilisers containing less than 20 mg/kg of cadmium was also introduced, whereas the European Parliament wanted to make it a binding measure.
For the first time, European rules will cover organic and mineral fertilisers. Currently, only 5% of organic materials are recycled and used for fertiliser production, says a European Parliament press release. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)