Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 on fertilisers and biostimulants

PFC

ANNEX I. PRODUCT FUNCTION CATEGORIES (PFCs)

PFC 1. Fertiliser

A ‘fertilising product’ is a substance[1], mixture[2], micro-organism[3] or any other material, applied or intended to be applied on plants or their rhizosphere or on mushrooms or their mycosphere, or intended to constitute the rhizosphere or mycosphere, either on its own or mixed with another material, for the purpose of providing the plants or mushrooms with nutrient or improving their nutrition efficiency.

An ‘EU fertilising product’ is a fertilising product which is CE marked when made available on the market.

A fertiliser shall be an EU fertilising product the function of which is to provide nutrients to plants or mushrooms.

  • PFC 1 (A) Organic fertiliser

An organic fertiliser shall contain:

— organic carbon (Corg) and

— nutrients

of solely biological origin.

An organic fertiliser may contain peat, leonardite and lignite, but no other material which is fossilized or embedded in geological formations.

  • PFC 1 (B) Organo-mineral fertiliser

An organo-mineral fertiliser shall be a co-formulation of:

(a) one or more inorganic fertilisers, and

(b) one or more materials containing:

— organic carbon (Corg); and

— nutrients

of solely biological origin.

An organo-mineral fertiliser may contain peat, leonardite and lignite, but no other material which is fossilized or embedded in geological formations.

  • PFC 1 (C) Inorganic fertiliser

An inorganic fertiliser shall be a fertiliser containing or releasing nutrients in a mineral form, other than an organic or organo-mineral fertiliser.

PFC 2. Liming material

A liming material shall be an EU fertilising product the function of which is to correct soil acidity. A liming material shall contain oxides, hydroxides, carbonates or silicates of the nutrients calcium (Ca) or magnesium (Mg).

PFC 3. Soil improver

A soil improver shall be an EU fertilising product the function of which is to maintain, improve or protect the physical or chemical properties, the structure or the biological activity of the soil to which it is added.

  • PFC 3 (A) Organic soil improver

An organic soil improver shall consist of material 95 % of which is of solely biological origin.

An organic soil improver may contain peat, leonardite and lignite, but no other material which is fossilized or embedded in geological formations.

  • PFC 3 (B) Inorganic soil improver

An inorganic soil improver shall be a soil improver other than an organic soil improver.

PFC 4. Growing medium

A growing medium shall be an EU fertilising product other than soil in situ, the function of which is for plants or mushrooms to grow in. For the purpose of this point, plants include algae.

PFC 5. Inhibitor

An inhibitor shall be an EU fertilising product the function of which is to improve the nutrient release patterns of a product providing plants with nutrients by delaying or stopping the activity of specific groups of micro-organisms or enzymes.

  • PFC 5 (A) Nitrification inhibitor

A nitrification inhibitor shall inhibit the biological oxidation of ammoniacal nitrogen (NH3-N) to nitrite nitrogen (NO2-), thus slowing the formation of nitrate nitrogen (NO3-).

  • PFC 5 (B) Denitrification inhibitor

A denitrification inhibitor shall inhibit the formation of nitrous oxide (N2O) by slowing down or blocking the conversion of nitrate (NO3-) to dinitrogen (N2) without influencing the nitrification process.

  • PFC 5 (C) Urease inhibitor

A urease inhibitor shall inhibit hydrolytic action on urea (CH4N2O) by the urease enzyme, primarily targeted to reduce ammonia volatilisation.

PFC 6. Plant biostimulant

A plant biostimulant shall be an EU fertilising product the function of which is to stimulate 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, or

(d) availability of confined nutrients in the soil or rhizosphere.

  • PFC 6 (A) Microbial plant biostimulant

A microbial plant biostimulant shall consist of a micro-organism or a consortium of micro-organisms referred to in CMC 7.

  • PFC 6 (B) Non-microbial plant biostimulant

A non-microbial plant biostimulant shall be a plant biostimulant other than a microbial plant biostimulant.

PFC 7. Fertilising product blend

A fertilising product blend shall be an EU fertilising product composed of two or more EU fertilising products of PFC 1 to PFC 6 for which the compliance with the requirements of this Regulation of each component EU fertilising product in the blend has been demonstrated in accordance with the conformity assessment procedure applicable to that component EU fertilising product.

The blending shall not change the nature of each component EU fertilising product and shall not have an adverse effect on human, animal or plant health, on safety, or on the environment, under reasonably foreseeable conditions of storage or use of the fertilising product blend.

The manufacturer of the blend shall assess the conformity of the blend with the requirements set out in points 1 and 2 of this PFC, ensure the blend’s compliance with the labelling requirements laid down in Annex III, and assume responsibility pursuant to Article 16(4) of this Regulation for the compliance of the blend with the requirements of this Regulation by:

(a) drawing up an EU declaration of conformity for the fertilising product blend in accordance with Article 6 (2) of this Regulation, and

(b) being in possession of the EU declaration of conformity of each of the component EU fertilising products.

[1] «substance»: means a chemical element and its compounds in the natural state or obtained by any manufacturing process, including any additive necessary to preserve its stability and any impurity deriving from the process used, but excluding any solvent which may be separated without affecting the stability of the substance or changing its composition.

[2] «mixture»: means a mixture or solution composed of two or more substances.

[3] «micro-organism»: means any microbiological entity, including lower fungi and viruses, cellular or non-cellular, capable of replication or of transferring genetic material.