Lithuania has its own national set of rules governing fertilizers and biostimulants, which are not covered by the EU Fertiliser Regulation 2019/1009.

The primary legislation is the Lithuanian Law on fertiliser products from 2019. This piece of legislation covers the placing and supply of fertiliser products on the market, identification requirements, registration into the fertiliser list and market surveillance.

A fertilising product is defined as a chemical substance, or mixture thereof, microorganisms or any other substance used on plants or the rhizosphere or the mycosphere, alone or mixed with other chemicals intended to provide nutrients to plants or fungi to improve nutritional efficiency.

Fertiliser products must be included in the fertilising products identification list before placing on the market. This listing goes hand in hand with a functional product category to which the product belongs to, as well as general safety and quality requirements.

A pre-requisite is that the quality of the fertiliser has been cofirmed by tests conducted for at least three consecutive years and a positive impact on plant nutrition or the soil's physical, chemical or biological quality has been demonstrated.

The listing should take about 3 weeks, provided all information submitted is complete and deemed appropriate.

If a product is already registered or authorised in another EEA state, this listing can also be done, based on the authorisation certificate in the reference country.

The data requirements for the mandatory inclusion in the registry encompass, of course, the label, an MSDS, the chemical composition and contaminants (done by an accredited laboratory and not older than 6 months), not to mention the names of the manufacturers, production method, instructions for use, etc.

For organic fertilisers, the contaminants thresholds are:

Cadmium (Cd) – 1.5 mg/kg dry matter;

Hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) – 2 mg/kg dry matter;

Mercury (Hg) – 1 mg/kg dry matter;

Nickel (Ni) – 50 mg/kg dry matter;

Lead (Pb) – 120 mg/kg dry matter;

Inorganic arsenic (As) – 40 mg/kg dry matter;

Copper (Cu) – 300 mg/kg dry matter;

Zinc (Zn) – 800 mg/kg dry matter;

A 25 g sample of fertilizer shall be free from Salmonella spp.;

The concentration of E Coli and Enterococcaseae bacteria does not exceed 1 g/g or ml.

For plant biostimulants, the contaminants thresholds are:

Cadmium (Cd) – 1.5 mg/kg dry matter;

Hexavalent chromium (Cr VI) – 2 mg/kg dry matter;

Lead (Pb) – 120 mg/kg dry matter;

Mercury (Hg) – 1 mg/kg dry matter;

Nickel (Ni) – 50 mg/kg dry matter;

Arsenic (As) – 40 mg/kg dry matter;

Copper (Cu) – 600 mg/kg dry matter;

Zinc (Zn) – 1500 mg/kg dry matter;

A 25 g or 25 ml sample of the fertilizing product shall be free of Salmonella spp.;

A 1 g or 1 ml sample of the fertilizing product shall be free of Escherichia coli;

A 25 g or 25 ml sample of the fertilizing product shall be free from Listeria monocytogenes;

A 25 g or 25 ml sample of the fertilizing product shall be free from Vibrio spp.;

A 25 g or 25 ml sample of the fertilizing product shall be free from Shigella spp.;

A 1 g or 1 ml sample of the fertilizing product shall not contain Staphylococcus aureus;

Enterococcaceae in the fertilizer product shall not exceed 10 cfu/g fresh masses

The State Plant Service under the Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the registration and control of fertilizers and plant protection products in Lithuania.

For biostimulants that are not covered by the EU Fertiliser Regulation, applicants should consult with this authority to determine the specific regulatory pathway.

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The sciBASICS Team.