Regulation for digital labelling of fertilising products
Regulation for digital labelling of fertilising products
The Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) (EU) 2019/1009 establishes the requirements for the labelling of Fertilising Products (FPs). On February 27th, 2023, the European Commission published amending (EU) the FPR as regards to the digital labelling of EU fertilising products. Approximately a year after (the 22nd of January 2024) Co-legislators reached a provisional agreement, and on the 22nd of July 2024, the European Council finally adopted such Regulation on the digital labelling of EU fertilising products, which will shortly be published in the Official Journal (OF) of the European Union and will enter into force three days later.
The aim of this Regulation is to reduce the costs, bureaucracy, and environmental footprint for producers by promoting the use of digital labels on EU FPs while keeping a physical label when necessary.
Digital labels are QR codes or barcodes that redirect the user to a web page where the information on the label is stored. Digitalisation makes it possible to increase the quality and quantity of the information stored in the digital label, to easier update its content and to reduce the cost of labelling.
However, digital labelling can also come with new challenges. Digital skills vary among social groups and ages, as some people might not know or have access to digital devices necessary to retrieve the digital labels. Therefore, it is vital that user safety is not compromised in the process of making labelling more user-friendly through digital means. On that account, economic operators should ensure that a minimum amount of key information about the agronomic efficiency and use of the product is also available on the physical label.
The choice to provide a digital label lies primarily with manufacturers and importers responsible for fulfilling the labelling requirements set out in Annex III of the FPR, ensuring that the digital label is available for a period of 10 years from the date that the EU FP was placed on the market.
If you need assistance with registration of FPs in the EU, please do not hesitate to contact the experts at Kerona: info@kerona.ie