Fertilizer Act
| Basic data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Fertilizer Act |
| Previous title: | Law on the movement of fertilizers |
| Abbreviation: | DüMG 1977, FertilizerG |
| Type: | Federal law |
| Scope: | Federal Republic of Germany |
| Legal matter: | Agricultural law , land use law |
| References : | 7820-2 |
| Original version from: | August 14, 1962 ( BGBl. I p. 558 ) |
| Entry into force on: | November 24, 1962 |
| Last revision from: | November 15, 1977 ( BGBl. I p. 2134 ) |
| Entry into force of the new version on: |
January 1, 1978 |
| Expiry: | February 6, 2009 § 18 G of January 9, 2009 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 54) |
| Weblink: | Text of the law |
| Please note the note on the applicable legal version. | |
The legal basis for the sale of fertilizers until February 2009 was the Fertilizers Act of November 15, 1977. With its implementing ordinances, it primarily served to align the regulations in force in the Federal Republic of Germany with relevant EU regulations. It was replaced by the Fertilizer Act on February 6, 2009 .
scope of application
For the purposes of this law:
- Fertilizers: substances that are intended to be used directly or indirectly for useful plants in order to promote their growth, increase their yield or improve their quality.
- Farm manure: animal excrement, manure, liquid manure, liquid manure, straw and similar by-products from agricultural production.
- Secondary raw material fertilizers : sewage , faeces , sewage sludge and similar substances from municipal waste and comparable substances from other sources.
- Cultivation substrates: potting soil , mixtures based on peat and other substrates that serve as root space for the plants, also in liquid form (e.g. for hydroponics , hydroponics ).
- Soil additives: Substances with no significant nutrient content that biotically, chemically or physically influence the soil in order to improve its condition or the effectiveness of fertilizers, in particular soil inoculants , soil crumbs, soil stabilizers, rock flour .
- Plant auxiliaries: substances with no essential nutritional content that are intended to act on the plants.
In the law for the promotion of rural agriculture of July 12, 1989, the fertilizer law was changed to an application law . The main principles are:
- Fertilizers may only be used in accordance with good professional practice. Fertilization according to good professional practice serves to supply the plants with the necessary nutrients and to maintain and promote soil fertility . This is intended in particular to ensure that the population is supplied with high-quality, inexpensive products.
- Good professional practice means that the type, amount and time of fertilization are geared towards the needs of the plants and the soil, taking into account the nutrients and organic matter available in the soil, as well as the location and cultivation conditions. The nutritional requirements of the plants depend on their productivity under the respective location and cultivation conditions as well as the quality requirements of the products.
- The principles of good professional practice are described in more detail in the Fertilizer Ordinance .
Fertilizers may only be placed on the market commercially if they correspond to an approved type of fertilizer that has been approved by statutory order. The regulations for differentiating the types of fertilizer from each other refer to
- the designation of the fertilizer types ,
- the nutrients and other components determining a type of fertilizer and their minimum contents,
- the evaluation of the components and the nutrients according to their forms and solubilities
- the type of manufacture,
- their composition,
- the external characteristics,
- the contents of secondary components
- and other requirements important for the effect or application of the fertilizers.
reform
In order to implement the approval of new fertilizers more quickly, the Fertilizer Act was replaced by the Fertilizer Act. However, the federal states had announced that there was a significant need for correction, so that implementation could only take place from February 6, 2009.
