Fertilisers and biostimulants can be placed on the Irish market either directly, or through Mutual Recognition, in case the product at stake is lawfully placed on the market in an other EU Member State.

Fertilisers and biostimulants can be placed on the Irish market via the European Fertiliser Regulation 1069/2009 or in accordance with the various pieces of Iris legislation, which are, in summary:

The most recent piece of legislation (SI No. 378 of 2023) is about the National Fertiliser Database reporting obligations for Fertiliser Economic Operators and Professional Fertiliser End Users. These obligations are about reporting imports, monthly data submission, specific monthly reporting and annual stock declaration. This National Fertiliser Database was created with SI No 377 of 2023.

Water protection is an important topic in Ireland, as also expressed by SI No 113 of 2022, which is about the establishment of measures to protect water from agricultural pollution in Ireland, including restrictions on fertiliser use, storage requirements for livestock manure, and monitoring of water quality. For instance, this is about periods when the application of fertilisers to land is prohibited or where the amount of fertilisers that can be applied to a field is limited.

The placing on the market of fertilisers and limiting materials not covered by the European Fertiliser Regulation is regulated through SI 248/1978. The 1978 Marketing of Non-EEC Fertilisers Regulations establish quality, packaging, and labelling standards for non-EEC fertilisers, including liquid fertilisers and those with specific nutrients, aligning with European Communities standards. They specify requirements for liming materials, sampling, analysis, and marketing.

Contaminants thresholds for Ireland:

Recommended Limits

for Heavy Metals

Cd* 3 * for products containing less than 5% P205 (or 1.5 for products containing less than 2,5 % P2O5)

Cr (VI) 2

Cr total 100

Hg 2

Ni 90

Pb 140

As 60

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