On 21 and 22 January, ECOFI was represented at ESPP’s Stakeholder Workshops on nutrients in the upcoming EU Circular Economy Act and the role of nutrient stewardship in the EU Common Agricultural Policy. These workshops were an opportunity for ECOFI to raise awareness of some key regulatory challenges blocking our members’ circular, organic-based fertilising products from reaching the EU single market and the benefits these products have for farmers.
Animal By-Products and the Circular Economy – revalorising nutrients for the benefit of farmers and the earth:
On Tuesday, 21 January, Jessica Fitch, ECOFI Secretary General, presented ECOFI and EBIC’s work on a joint letter on the need for an EU regulatory approach to materials from animal origin in the food chain that is fit for the Circular Economy. The organic-based fertiliser industry transforms what would otherwise be discarded materials from other agricultural and industrial processes, including animal by-products, and gives these materials a new lease of life in innovative, safe and sustainable fertilising products. This also prevents pollution in nutrient hotspots, processing them so they can be transported and made available for plants and soils that need them.
However, despite their benefits, many organic-based fertilising products are restricted from accessing the EU single market, thus limiting farmers use of these vital tools, due to inconsistencies between the EU Fertilising Products Regulation and the Animal By-Product Regulation. In April of 2024, EBIC and ECOFI along with 14 other organisations co-wrote a letter to the Directorate General of DG Health and Food Safety (SANTE). The letter called on the European Commission “to undertake a comprehensive review of the European Union’s approach to the regulation of materials from animal origin”. Without this, the EU will not be able to make a functioning circular economy a reality, missing an opportunity to enhance EU competitiveness while staying within its planetary boundaries, particularly when it comes to reducing nutrient losses and pollution.
On Tuesday, Jessica Fitch reiterated the core demands of the letter. Calling on EU regulators to ensure policy coherence between the Animal By-Product Regulation and the Fertilising Products Regulation, as well as other EU legislative frameworks, to promote the development of the European circular economy and to facilitate access to market and uptake of circular, sustainable products such as organic-based fertilisers.
For more information, you can read our joint slides or contact Jessica (jessica@prospero.ag).
Nutrient management and the CAP – boosting farmers competitiveness and sustainability:
On Wednesday, 22 January, our board member Nicolas Willaume discussed what expectations ECOFI has for nutrient management in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and ECOFI’s proposals for how this should look. Processed organic-based fertilising products support farmers by supplementing nutrients when on-farm sources like manures and composts are insufficient. They ensure consistent, predictable product quality, component traceability, and protection from pathogens and contaminants, providing both practical benefits and peace of mind. Many organic-based fertilising products also help provide added value in agricultural contexts where low soil carbon constrains the uptake of mineral nutrients.
Recycling materials within the EU reduces our dependence on third-country imports while staying within our planetary boundaries for nutrients by reusing nutrients rather than losing them to our environment and extracting new ones from third countries. Promoting farmers’ use of recycled nutrients in the form of organic-based fertilising products through the CAP can also support thriving rural communities where organic-based fertilising products production plants are often established and source their raw materials, helping to secure skilled rural jobs and local economic growth across the EU.
It is vital that farmers can access a range of integrated tools to help them in their nutrient management. Organic-based fertilising products can be used alongside mineral fertilisers and biostimulants as part of an integrated plant nutrition approach to the benefit of food production and soils. The EU can help farmers avail of tools such as organic-based fertilisers and soil improvers through the CAP by providing them with education on these products and their benefits as well as advice and opportunities for upskilling to ensure farmers are able to get the optimal application of such complementary and sustainable solutions. Most importantly, such circular fertilisers desperately need a clear path to the Single Market in the years to come. ECOFI will continue to engage with the elaboration of the Commission’s proposal on the Circular Economy Act to try to ensure it makes such products available to farmers.
ECOFI discussed the need for EU policy makers to help support and incentivise the adoption of organic-based fertilising products by farmers in our manifesto. Policy makers can help create a more resilient, competitive, and sustainable food system for all by addressing key challenges related to the functioning of the EU Single Market and by promoting positive nutrient management techniques in the CAP.
Learn more about ECOFI:
ECOFI represents producers of organic fertilisers, organo-mineral fertilisers, and organic soil improvers in the EU. ECOFI advocates a European regulatory framework that recognizes the significant role that organic-based fertilising technologies play in the development of sustainable models of agricultural productivity, social cohesion, and economic growth. Find out more about ECOFI on our website or by contacting our secretariat.