Order APA/104/2022, of February 11, which amends Annexes I, II, III and VI of Royal Decree 506/2013, of June 28, on fertilizer products.
The Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 laying down provisions on the making available on the market of EU fertilizer products and amending Regulations (EC) No 1069/2009 and (EC) No 1107/2009 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 was published on 19 June 2019. This regulation will apply from 16 July 2022, the date from which, in accordance with Article 51, Regulation (EC) No. 2003/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 relating to fertilizers will be repealed.
In accordance with its preamble, Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 proposes a voluntary harmonization, with economic operators having the option of using the EU marking or placing their products on the market in accordance with national regulations. This approach will foreseeably slow down the harmonization at EU level of the fertilizer products market, with the consequent detriment. In addition, the new regulation implies the need to develop new standards to test the new requirements and different products it incorporates, which will contribute to slow down its full adoption.
In order to adapt the European Regulation to Spanish legislation, Order APA/104/2022, of February 11, has been published, amending Annexes I, II, III and VI of Royal Decree 506/2013, of June 28, on fertilizer products.
The main changes in this order are:
- Royal Decree 506/2013, of June 28, on fertilizer products, maintains a very similar structure to the aforementioned regulation and, in a certain sense, complements it, since it incorporates those fertilizer products that, although they have proven their safety and efficacy, are not included in Annex I of the aforementioned regulation.
- Existence of a positive list of types to facilitate the setting of specific requirements, or even the prohibition of certain products, such as ammonium carbonate-based fertilizers.
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food considers, at least at the national level, the possibility of continuing to market the fertilizer products listed in Annex I of Regulation 2003/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of October 13, 2003.
- Annex I of Royal Decree 506/2013 is amended, creating a section 4 in group 1 and a section 2 of group 4, in order to include in them most of the different types of inorganic fertilizers of Annex I of Regulation 2003/2003.
- Annex I of the Royal Decree does not include solid and straight inorganic fertilizers based on ammonium nitrate, with a high nitrogen content, which includes the obligations referring to these fertilizers and to blended fertilizers, provided for in group I of Annex I of this Royal Decree, which use ammonium nitrate as an ingredient and whose nitrogen content due to ammonium nitrate is higher than 16 percent by mass, as established in articles 8. a), 12.h) and 30.3 of the referred Royal Decree 506/2013, of June 28.
- The analytical method indicated to quantify the urease inhibitor, monocarbamide dihydrogen sulfate (MCDHS), is revised, proposing an alternative one in Annex VI that can be used under the conditions indicated in Annex I.
- In the case of Group 5, Limestone amendments, instead of adopting Group G of Annex I of Regulation 2003/2003, the existing national types in Annex I of Royal Decree 506/2013 have been reinstated.
- Annexes II, III and VI are modified, in order to adapt the labeling rules, tolerance margins and analytical methods, incidentally, the analytical methods and tolerances have been revised for their better adaptation to technical progress.
- The modification of the labeling indications in Annex II also makes it possible to align these requirements with those of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009, with respect to the impact on air quality.
Responsable dpto Físico-Químico
Bernardo Marín Romero