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Update: Admission process for microbial plant biostimulants under the Fertilising Products Regulation

Recently the EU COM published its answer to a Question for Written Answer by MEP about the admission process for microbial plant biostimulants.

The EU Commission (COM) will not consider extending the exhaustive list of microorganisms until a robust assessment procedure has been identified. For the time being, this leaves economic operators with the option of placing microbial plant biostimulants on the market solely on the basis of national regulations.

On 7 July 2021 the EU COM published its answer to a Question for Written Answer by MEP Jan Huitema about the admission process for microbial plant biostimulants under the Fertilising Products Regulation (EU) 1009/2019 (FPR). It outlines that preliminary discussions have been held in the COM Expert Group on Fertilising Products regarding the future procedure for assessing the safety of microorganisms but these discussions have not been conclusive so far. The answer details that the safety and agronomic efficiency of such microorganisms should be thoroughly assessed, but there is no consensus yet on how best to do this. However, as long there is no agreement on a robust assessment procedure, the COM will not consider extending the exhaustive list of microorganisms.

The COM will continue to gather information on the rules applicable for the approval of microorganisms in Member States and will discuss options on how to add new microorganisms to the positive list in the meeting of the expert group scheduled in October 2021.

As the Regulation establishes optional harmonisation rules, economic operators still have the possibility to place microbial plant biostimulants on the market solely on the basis of national rules.

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