At the end of the Estonian Presidency and after the vote in the European Parliament (24/10/2017) the Council agreed on 20/12/2017 on the mandate for drafting the fertiliser regulation to improve the existing rules for placing fertilising products on the European market.
This mandate enables the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council to start the negotiations with the European Parliament, Council and Commission on this file in 2018.
The proposal sets out requirements for placing fertilising products on the EU market. These requirements will include obligatory maximum contaminant levels, the use of defined component material categories and labelling requirements.
Tarmo Tamm, Minister of Rural Affairs of Estonia stated that it is important to promote the wider use of innovative fertilisers and offer a more diverse range of fertilising products to agricultural producers in order to make food production more cost-effective and resource-efficient. This has to be done in the context of the circular economy and the protection of the environment and human health.
Please find the Council press release here.
For further information on the fertilisers file, please find the European Parliament briefing (01/12/2017) here.