Digital labelling of EU fertilising products

Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 lays down in its Annex III the labelling requirements applicable to EU fertilising products. Currently, the information referred to in such Annex is to be provided on a label in a physical form attached to that packaging or, for the labelling elements that cannot be provided on the label due to the packaging being too small or in the case of products without a packaging, in a separate leaflet.

These provisions are to be amended by means of a new regulation, the proposal of which was reviewed by the Parliament last March 2024 and is now awaiting the Council’s first reading.

The proposed regulation amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 aims to encourage the use of digital labelling of EU fertilizing products, to improve the readability of the labels and to facilitate their management by the economic operators in order to guarantee the functioning of the internal market. In this regard, the main changes of the proposed regulation are the following:

• Suppliers of fertilising products are allowed to communicate labelling information in a physical format, a digital format, or a combination of the two.
•  The use of digital labels for products sold without packaging is allowed provided that the information of the label is also displayed in physical format in a visible place at the point of sale.
•  The digital label should be presented in a way that also addresses the needs of vulnerable groups and supports the necessary adaptations to facilitate access by those groups, in particular those consisting of persons with disabilities.
•  Economic operators should ensure free access to digital labels for a period of 10 years from the moment that the EU fertilizing product is placed on the market.
•  By 7 years from the date of entry into force of the proposed regulation, the Commission should carry out an evaluation of the digital labelling of EU fertilising products. As part of that evaluation, it should assess in particular: the impact of digital labelling of EU fertilising products on the proper functioning of the internal market, the level of consumer protection and impact of digital labelling of EU fertilising products on businesses, and the extent to which economic operators opt for the use of a digital label.