What is a CE mark?
Henry Bechelet, Technical Manager for ICL, tells us why The Fertilising Product Regulations are raising the standards for our industry.
Fertilisers are regulated to ensure that they are used responsibly. The EU Fertilising Product Regulation (FPR) sets the rules for fertilising products sold in the EU.
AFPR compliant fertilisers will display a CE mark which shows that the manufacturer has checked that the product meets EU safety, health or environmental requirements. CE stands for “Conformité Européenne” (the French for European conformity) and the mark is an indicator of a product’s compliance with EU legislation. The Fertilising Product Regulations are a significant step forward for our industry because they set a higher standard than the previous regulations and encompass a wider range of product types. It is thought that the UK will broadly adopt these regulations with some minor adaptations.
More than fertilisers
FPR defines ‘fertilising product’ as any substance or material used on plants (or rootzone) for providing nutrients or improving nutrition efficiency. The regulations group materials into different ‘product function’ categories such as fertilisers and fertilising product blends but also things like liming materials, soil improvers, growing medium, inhibitors and plant biostimulants.
Because the new regulations now encompass a broader range of product categories than just fertilisers, we are seeing a greater requirement for products to be registered. Soil improvers and plant biostimulants will need to be compliant to the new regulatory standards if they are to be sold across the EU. This is why we are seeing surfactants being registered under FPR.
Different categories
FPR categorises ‘soil improver’ as a product whose function is to maintain, improve or protect the soils physical or chemical properties, the soil structure or the biological activity of the soil to which it is added. This is a broad product category, but as an example it might include soil amendments to improve nutrient retention or maybe surfactants to improve the water holding capabilities of the soil.
A ‘Plant biostimulant’ is described under FPR as a product whose function is to stimulate plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content, with the aim of improving the characteristics of the plant or the plant rhizosphere. This might be improved nutrient use efficiency, a greater tolerance to abiotic stress, improved turf quality traits, or an increased availability of confined nutrients in the soil or rhizosphere. So, this product category is related to plant health benefits rather than improving the properties of the soil. Biostimulants could encompass a broad range of different technologies, but again, surfactants might be included in this category too.
Differing requirements for CE
In order to become fully registered and bear the CE mark, the product manufacturer must fulfil the regulatory requirements that relate specifically to the chosen product function category. It is important to understand that different product function categories have different conformity requirements.
FPR compliant soil improvers require a dossier of technical documentation evidencing compliance in multiple areas. Information is required on raw materials, manufacturing process, product use and application information, labels, calculations of nutrient contents, reports on contaminants and list of standards used for testing etc. For soil improvers, there is no requirement for trial data to evidence the product performance.
FPR compliant biostimulants, however, require all the above production and labelling information, but they also need trial results that evidence each biostimulant claim. Multiple trials must be conducted and reported according to the strict standards set by this section of the regulation. All claims made about the biostimulant must be stated on the label and the claimed effects must be demonstrated during the trial procedure. Registered biostimulants, therefore, require a far greater level of supporting information and evidence of performance to achieve a CE mark than soil improvers.
So not all CE marks are the same
The upshot is that not all CE marks are the same. Depending on the chosen product category, the regulatory demands might differ significantly. Products categorised as biostimulants will need a far greater level of supporting dossier than soil improvers. This is an important detail.
ICL have successfully registered H2Pro Trismart as a non-microbial plant biostumulant under the FPR regulations, and so it proudly bears the CE mark for that product function category. In multiple independent trials, we have successfully demonstrated increased abiotic drought stress tolerance and improved turf quality traits (density, uniformity and colour) when compared against untreated irrigated and unirrigated controls.
The H2Pro TriSmart CE mark biostimulant designation builds upon all the other benefits that we have previously demonstrated in numerous other trials (increased nutrient uptake, drought stress reduction, prevention of localised dry spot and significant reduction in water requirements). H2Pro TriSmart is a fully accredited and powerful water management technology that performs well in a number of important areas.
Check Everything
So, if a surfactant bears a CE mark, you need to check what product function category it is being registered under. If the manufacturer has chosen to categorise it as a soil improver, then the CE mark only relates to the production and declaration conformity of the product and it is not necessarily an indication of its performance. If it has a CE mark for biostimulant, then it has been proven to perform in the ways described on the product label.
As always, it’s best to check everything…starting with the product label.
Author profile
Henry Bechelet is Technical Sales Manager in the UK & Ireland for the turf and landscape business. Henry has been in the turf industry for over 25 years. He originally trained as an agricultural agronomist but then joined the turfgrass industry as a trainee agronomist in the early 90’s. Henry has spent roughly half his career engaged in independent consultancy and the other half on the commercial side of the industry. Over the years, Henry has built a reputation as being an enthusiastic and entertaining presenter who has always been very progressive in his views.