Fertilising products are substances, mixtures, micro-organisms, or any other materials, applied on plants or their rhizosphere, or constituting the rhizosphere, for the purpose of providing the plants with nutrients or improving their nutrition efficiency.
As fertilising products are sometimes produced locally, manufacturers may choose freely to place on the market their products as:
1. harmonised products (‘EU fertilising products’), if they comply with the Fertilising Products Regulation or
The Fertilising Products Regulation covers many categories of products: fertilisers, liming materials, soil improvers, growing media, plant biostimulants and blends.
It creates many opportunities for the recovery of nutrients from various waste streams via composting, digestion, pyrolysis and so on.
The Fertilising Products Regulation is here so that:
- Companies may CE mark their products and sell fertilising products all over the EU without additional formalities
- Farmers have more fertilising products to choose from and at competitive prices
- And, most importantly, our health and the planet are better protected. For the first time, maximum limits for the most important contaminants like cadmium, mercury or arsenic are imposed at EU level.
Find out more on Chemicals legislation (europa.eu)
2. Non-harmonised products, in accordance with national rules applicable in the EU country where they market the products.
Such products move in the internal market based on the mutual recognition rules
Find out more:
- Non-binding guidance document on the Mutual Recognition Regulation
- What is the mutual recognition regulation?
Detergents are products containing soaps or other surfactants intended for washing and cleaning.
Regulation (EC) No 648/2004 on detergents ensures that only detergents with surfactants that are fully biodegradable may be placed on the market. In addition, detergent labels must contain ingredient and dosage information. This is to protect the health of consumers, especially against allergies, and to avoid the over-use of detergents.
In particular, this Regulation harmonises the following rules for placing detergents and surfactants for detergents, on the EU market:
- the biodegradability of surfactants in detergents
- restrictions or bans on surfactants on grounds of biodegradability
- the additional labelling of detergents, including fragrance allergens
- the information that manufacturers must hold at the disposal of national authorities and medical personnel
- limitations on the content of phosphates and other phosphorus compounds in consumer laundry detergents and consumer automatic dishwasher detergents.
More on
Commercial explosives are essential for quarrying, mining, oil drilling and infrastructure construction. Directive 2014/28/EU harmonises EU country laws covering availability on the market, supervision of explosives for civil uses, and essential safety requirements for civil explosives while providing a high level of protection. It also creates an administrative system for the supervision of intra-EU transfers to protect the public from illicit uses.
More on legislation and documents concerning explosives for civil uses.
Pyrotechnic articles are mainly used in automotive restraint systems (airbags and seatbelt tensioners) and fireworks. Directive 2013/29/EU on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making available on the market of pyrotechnic articles
- protects consumers by requiring that pyrotechnic articles meet essential safety requirements
- creates a single market for those articles that meet the essential safety requirements. To demonstrate that their articles comply with the essential safety requirements, manufacturers must have their products assessed by independent testing institutes (notified bodies).
If justified on grounds of public order, security, health, safety or environmental protection, EU countries may restrict or ban the sale of certain types of pyrotechnic articles.
Drug precursors are chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of drugs such as cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, or methamphetamines. However, many of these chemicals have primarily large and varied legitimate uses, for example in the production of plastics, medicinal products, cosmetics, perfumes, detergents, and aromas. Effective control of the legitimate trade of these chemicals is the best way of fighting their diversion for illicit drug manufacture.
Regulation (EC) No 273/2004 (intra-Union market) and Regulation (EC) No 111/2005 (external trade) lay down harmonised degrees of control for economic operators and professional users, as well as for trade transactions, depending on the sensitivity of the drug precursors concerned. In addition, the regulations create a partnership between authorities and operators to identify diversion attempts.