2018/0405/LT
EC/EFTA
LT Lithuanie
  • C00A - AGRICULTURE, PECHE ET DENREES ALIMENTAIRES
2018-11-09
2018-08-14

Products under consideration are fertilising products, understood as chemical substances, chemical mixtures, micro-organisms or any other materials, either on their own or mixed with another chemical substance, applied or intended to be applied on plants or their rhizospheres, or on fungi or their mycospheres, or to create rhizospheres or mycospheres, for the purpose of providing plants or fungi with nutrients or improving their nutrition efficiency.

European Community fertilisers (hereinafter ‘EC fertilisers’) subject to the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 relating to fertilisers (OJ, 2004 Special Edition, Chapter 13, Volume 32, p. 467), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 2016/1618 of 8 September 2016 (OJ L 242, 2016, p. 24) (hereinafter ‘Regulation (EC) 2003/2003’), with the exception of market surveillance, usage provisions and liability provisions.

Draft Law of the Republic of Lithuania on fertilising products placed on the market

The notified law specifies the requirements for fertilising products placed on the market in the Republic of Lithuania, as well as the responsibilities of economic operators and users, requirements for the identification of fertilising products placed on the market, requirements for the inclusion of fertilising products placed on the market in a fertilising product identification list (hereinafter ‘Identification List’) and their removal therefrom, market surveillance provisions and liability for violations of said law.

This law applies to fertilising products placed on the market to the extent to which such products are not regulated by European Union legislation.

This law does not apply to the following products:

1) animal by-products and derived products made available on the market in observance of the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1774/2002 (OJ L 300, 2009, p. 1), as last amended by Directive No 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2010 (OJ L 276, 2010, p. 33);

2) plant protection products subject to Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC (OJ L 309, 2009, p. 1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 2017/1432 of 7 September 2017 (OJ L 205, 2017, p. 59);

3) European Community fertilisers (hereinafter ‘EC fertilisers’) subject to the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 relating to fertilisers (OJ, 2004 Special Edition, Chapter 13, Volume 32, p. 467), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 2016/1618 of 8 September 2016 (OJ L 242, 2016, p. 24) (hereinafter ‘Regulation (EC) 2003/2003’), with the exception of market surveillance, usage provisions and liability provisions;

4) fertilisers, soil improvers and nutrients defined in Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products with regard to organic production, labelling and control (OJ L 250, 2008, p. 1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EU) No 2017/2273 of 8 December 2017 (OJ L 326, 2017, p. 42).

4. The provisions of this law will apply to non-EC fertilisers entering the Republic of Lithuania from a European Union or European Economic Area state in which they were lawfully marketed, in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 764/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 July 2008 laying down procedures relating to the application of certain national technical rules to products lawfully marketed in another Member State and repealing Decision No 3052/95/EC (OJ L 218, 2008, p. 21).

5. The requirements of this law do not apply to fertilising products used for scientific research purposes or in laboratory testing, field trials and exhibitions.

The draft law:

- establishes duties for economic operators, taking into account that certain tasks may only be performed by producers. Importers and authorised representatives are closely connected to the market and are engaged to perform market surveillance tasks. They must be prepared to participate actively by providing to bodies authorised by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter ‘authorised bodies’) all necessary information on fertilising products in order to ensure their safety and quality;

- clearly and proportionately distributes duties which have been defined in consideration of the role of each economic operator (producer, importer, authorised representative, distributor) participating in the supply and distribution process;

- defines the responsibilities of fertilising product users;

- obliges producers to adequately label products in order to ensure their traceability; this information helps make market surveillance simpler and more effective at all stages of the supply chain;

- clearly specifies the technical documentation which economic operators are obliged to submit to authorised bodies prior to placing fertilising products on the market;

- defines fertilising product use requirements, which will ensure the protection of the environment and of human and animal life and health;

- provides for the adoption of an identification list of fertilising products placed on the market (hereinafter ‘Identification List’), which seeks to ensure that only those fertilising products which meet the safety and quality requirements of the law are placed on the market and used in agriculture. The draft defines the conditions for inclusion of products in and removal from the Identification List. Economic operators placing a new and innovative fertilising product on the market are obliged to provide the authorised body with agrochemical tests confirming the product’s positive effect on plant nutrition and/or physical, chemical and/or biological properties of soil. The Minister for Agriculture will adopt a description of the procedure identifying the body which should perform the agrochemical testing. When seeking to include in the Identification List a fertilising product lawfully placed on the domestic market of another European Union Member State, it will be necessary to provide the authorised body with a document proving the product's lawful placement on the domestic market of another European Union Member State;

- dedicates a chapter to market surveillance of fertilising products which specifies the rights and responsibilities of market surveillance officers and economic operators, the functions of market surveillance bodies and the applicable procedure for fertilising products which fail to meet the requirements;

- provides for the liability of economic operators and users in violation of this law by imposing dissuasive fines.