Biostimulants are exempted from the Plant Protection Products Regulation

Content:

The new Regulation on EU fertilising products amends the Plant Protection Products Regulation in order to define plant biostimulants and exempt them from the Plant Protection Products Regulation. The amendments apply from 15 July 2019.

Amendments of the Plant Protection Products Regulation

In June 2019 a new Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 on EU fertilising products was decided. The new regulation on EU fertilising products amends the scope of the Regulation (EU) No 1107/2009 on Plant Protection Products. The amended articles in the regulation on Plant Protection Products are Article 2, 3 and 80. The amendments shall apply from the 15th of July 2019.

In Sweden a biostimulant has until now been considered as either a fertiliser or a plant protection product, depending on the scope and function of the product. Therefore, biostimulants have been covered either by the previous regulation on fertilisers, regulation (EC) No 2003/2003, or the Plant Protection Products Regulation. The amendments clarify which products that should be considered as plant biostimulants and that these products shall no longer be within the scope of the Plant Protections Products Regulation, but be excluded.

It may be the case that there are some products already authorised as plant protection products which may fall under the new definition of a plant biostimulant. These products will be considered as plant protection products until their authorisations expire.

The amendments in brief

The new rules amending the Plant Protection Products Regulation can be found in Article 47 of the Regulation (EC) 2019/1009 on EU fertilising products. In brief, the amendments of the Plant Protection Products Regulation imply that:

  • Article 2.1.b is amended so that plant biostimulants are no longer within the scope of the regulation.
  • In Article 3, a definition of plant biostimulants is added.
  • In Article 80, a transitional provision is added which implies that if a product has been authorised based on an application sent in before 15 July 2019, the authorisation will apply until it expiration date.

The amendments in full

The legally binding text of the amended articles is published in Article 47 of the Regulation 2019/1009 on EU-fertilising products. The wording of Article 7 in full is:

Article 47

Amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009

Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 is amended as follows:


(1) in Article 2(1), point (b) is replaced by the following:
'(b) influencing the life processes of plants, such as substances influencing their growth, other than as a nutrient or a plant biostimulant;'

(2) in Article 3, the following point is added:
'34. "plant biostimulant" means a 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:
(a) nutrient use efficiency;
(b) tolerance to abiotic stress;
(c) quality traits;
(d) availability of confined nutrients in soil or rhizosphere.';

(3) in Article 80, the following paragraph is added:
'8. To a product which was granted an authorisation under Article 32(1) based on an application submitted before 15 July 2019, and which after that date falls under the definition in point 34 of Article 3, this Regulation shall continue to apply for the duration provided in the authorisation.'

Regulation (EC) No 2019/1009 on EU fertilising products External link.

Last published 26 August 2020