The Sejm passes an amendment to the Fertilisers Act: implementation of EU fertilising products

On 29 September 2022 the Sejm passed an amendment to the Act on Fertilisers and Fertilisation which adapts Polish law to Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 on fertilising products. The act (Journal of Laws (Dz.U.) 2022, item 2364) enters into force on 3 December 2022. It introduces oversight of the marketing of CE-marked fertilising products, a register of microbial fertilisers, a system of penalties and changes in terminology. For digestate producers this is an important step: the EU regulation opens the way to selling organic fertilisers with CE marking, and the Polish act determines who supervises the market.

What is changing

The act extends the scope of the provisions to EU fertilising products and microbial fertilisers. The most important changes are:

• Register of microbial fertilisers kept by the minister responsible for agriculture (who may entrust it to a designated body).
• Market surveillance: the State Plant Health and Seed Inspection Service (PIORiN) supervises the marketing of CE products; voivodeship inspectors are market surveillance authorities, may prohibit or withdraw a non-compliant product and charge for testing if the result is non-compliant.
• Labelling: references to the "EC FERTILISER" mark are removed; CE products must be used, transported and stored in accordance with the label or leaflet.
• Penalties: administrative fines ranging from about PLN 2 thousand to PLN 150 thousand; in some cases up to 100% of the value of sales.
• Transitional provisions: fertilisers marked "EC FERTILISER" or covered by Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 are subject to separate transitional rules.

The text of the act contains no separate regulations for digestate products; such provisions could be brought by a separate act on agricultural biogas plants.

Significance for the industry in Poland

For biogas plants this means that digestate which is processed and meets the criteria of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 may be placed on the market as a CE product. In that case inspectorate oversight applies, and the producer is responsible for the conformity of each batch with the declaration. For digestate applied directly on farms, national rules on organic fertilisers and on waste still count, depending on the classification of the product.

From the entrepreneur's point of view it is crucial to establish the route: whether digestate will be treated as a fertiliser (with appropriate documentation) or as waste. The decision affects the requirements for testing, permits and reporting.

What to check when planning to sell digestate as a fertiliser

It is worth verifying three things: whether the input feedstocks fall within the list of permitted component materials in the EU regulation, whether the plant has a quality control system and access to an accredited laboratory, and how the product is classified in Polish law (organic fertiliser, waste, by-product). The answer decides whether conformity assessment by a notified body is needed and what the reporting obligations will be.

What next

Implementing rules and supervisory practice will show how strictly the inspectorate will check the quality of organic products. The industry also expects separate regulation of digestate in the planned rules for agricultural biogas plants. Producers should ensure regular quality testing and documentation of hygienisation and stabilisation processes.