On 22 July, the EU Council adopted the Regulation on the digital labelling of fertiliser products, which amends Regulation 2019/1009 on EU fertiliser products. Once it has been signed by the Presidents of the Council and the European Parliament, it will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation introduces the possibility of supplying all or part of the labelling requirements set out in Annex III of Regulation 2019/1009 in a digital format, while maintaining the obligation to use physical labels in cases where the products are intended for end users.

This Regulation aims to promote the use of digital labels on EU fertiliser products and regulates the voluntary use of “data carriers”, which are defined as a linear barcode symbol, a two-dimensional symbol or other means of identification and automatic data capture that can be read by a device.

The sector welcomes European legislation that allows the use of digital media to provide information on the labelling of fertiliser products. This means a number of improvements over physical labels, such as the possibility of including more comprehensive product information and better legibility, especially in the case of small packages. It is also a way of reducing or eliminating packaging waste by avoiding having to reject packages already printed with outdated information, with the consequent benefit for the environment.

However, the Regulation has introduced a very long period (two and a half years from the date of entry into force of the Regulation) for the European Commission to adopt the delegated acts that will establish the specific requirements and conditions that must be met in digital labelling. Therefore, even if the Regulation has already been approved, until the Commission publishes these delegated acts, companies will not be able to know the types of electronic technical solutions that can be used to provide the digital label, nor the alternative means to provide the information, although they will be able to use this type of labelling under their own criteria.