Phosphites

Phosphites

EBIC advocates for the EU Fertilising Products Regulation (FPR) to be amended to allow phosphites, a subgroup of phosphonates, to be incorporated in EU Plant Biostimulants. Allowing phosphites under PFC 6 would contribute to the objectives of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy by improving nutrient use efficiency. The evidence indicates that phosphite-based biostimulants could significantly enhance plant nutrient uptake, providing both economic advantages for farmers and environmental benefits.

In light of compelling scientific evidence (see below) demonstrating the benefit of phosphite biostimulants to improve nutrient use efficiency in crops like cereals, sugar beet, and oilseed rape, the European Commission submitted a proposal to its Expert Group on Fertilising Products in October 2022 to propose a modification to the FPR that would allow the incorporation of phosphonates in plant biostimulants and blends that contained those biostimulants.

During two years of discussion, the European Commission gathered comments on its draft amendments from Member States, which we took into account when drafting EBIC’s suggestions to refine the Commission’s proposed amendment:

• To address concerns about the environmental fate of phosphonates, EBIC suggests only allowing inorganic phosphonate salts, called phosphites, to be incorporated into EU Plant Biostimulants (PFC 6) and the PFC 7 blends containing them. Phosphites – where the phosphorus is bound exclusively with O-P bonds – have quite different properties than organic phosphonates characterised by C-P bonds.
• To address concerns that farmers could inadvertently excel Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), EBIC has proposed a procedure to demonstrate that biostimulant use according to instructions on the label would not exceed relevant MRLs. Conformity assessment of phosphite biostimulants would entail the Notified Body checking that the manufacturer has justification that the product has been demonstrated to respect MRL requirements. There would be a labelling requirement specifying for which crops the product can be used while respecting MRLs. It would therefore be unlawful for farmers to apply the product to any other crops.
• To avoid misrepresentation of phosphites as phosphorous fertilizers, there would also be a labelling requirements specifying that phosphite is not considered a plant-available source of P.
• To ensure that companies seeking the CE-mark for phosphite biostimulants had contributed fairly to the MRL compliance system, Notified Bodies would only grant conformity assessment for phosphite biostimulants whose manufacturers produced a letter of access to the relevant MRL compliance data.

What is the scientific evidence for the biostimulant function phosphites?

Recent research highlights the benefits of phosphite-based plant biostimulants. Studies from Nottingham University (UK) and Christian Albrechts-Universität (Kiel, Germany) reveal that phosphites offer multiple plant biostimulant effects, including enhanced root growth and improved nutrient use efficiency.

The studies identified significant improvements on root growth, nutrient efficiency, and yield. In fact, research highlighted a 5% increase in nutrient use efficiency, which could theoretically save up to 80,000 tonnes of nitrogen annually across the EU. These studies demonstrate that phosphites can be effective plant biostimulants, providing economic and environmental benefits.

What is the origin of the regulatory challenges for phosphite biostimulants?

According to Paragraph 6, Part II of Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009, “Phosphonates shall not be intentionally added to any EU fertilising product. Unintentional presence of phosphonates shall not exceed 0.5% by mass.” This restriction was introduced by the Council of the European Union during Trilateral negotiations at a time when the science demonstrating the biostimulant function of some phosphonates for certain crops was not yet well documented, even though some of these products had been used for biostimulant purposes in certain countries for years.

Even before the FPR was adopted, several Member States had excluded phosphonates from their national fertilising product rules based on a legal opinion from the Commission that predated the legal recognition of plant biostimulants at EU level, further restricting the marketability of biostimulants containing these substances. The original restrictions were linked with concerns about the misuse of phosphonates for illegal plant protection use. However, this exclusion also affects substances that have no registered plant protection use such as calcium and diammonium phosphonate.