Guidance
Manufacturing and marketing fertilisers from 1 January 2021
How manufacturers and importers of fertilisers should prepare for changes from 1 January 2021.
Published 11 March 2019
Last updated 2 December 2020 — see all updates
From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
New rules for January 2021
The UK has left the EU, and the transition period after Brexit comes to an end this year.
This page tells you what you’ll need to do from 1 January 2021. It will be updated if anything changes.
Check what else you need to do during the transition period.
Contents
Rules from 1 January 2021
Manufacturing and selling fertilisers in GB
Manufacturing and selling fertilisers in NI
Trading with the EU and EEA
Return rejected fertiliser exports to GB
Ammonium nitrate imports
Print this page
Rules from 1 January 2021
Most of the existing standards and rules that apply to manufacturing, importing and marketing fertilisers in the UK will stay the same.
Current domestic frameworks for Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI) will stay in place allowing fertilisers to be sold in the UK.
There will be changes to the existing EU framework in GB.
Manufacturing and selling fertilisers in GB
You can continue to manufacture under the domestic GB regulation for fertilisers. Products previously marketed as ‘EC fertilisers’ can be sold in GB as ‘UK fertilisers’ from 1 January 2021 provided:
you’re established in the UK
a UK approved laboratory has been used to test the product
Fertiliser products from NI will be able to be placed on the GB market providing they are ‘qualifying Northern Ireland goods’.
Qualifying Northern Ireland goods are defined as:
goods in ‘free circulation’ in NI, and not under customs supervision (except if the good is being taken out of Northern Ireland or the EU)
any good processed in NI and only incorporates GB inputs
This is part of a phased approach to provide unfettered access. A longer-term approach will be introduced in 2021.
Selling ‘EC fertiliser’ labelled products in GB
There will be a 2-year transitional period from 1 January 2021, during which you’ll be able to continue to manufacture and sell material labelled as an ‘EC fertiliser’ in GB provided those products conform to EU standards. Read the EU’s position on these standards.
Manufacturers will need to be established within the EU or in NI.
EC fertiliser that’s a ‘qualifying Northern Ireland good’ can be placed on the GB market on an ongoing basis.
Manufacturing and selling fertilisers in NI
You can continue to manufacture and market fertilisers under NI domestic fertiliser regulation.
You’ll still be able to manufacture and sell your products in NI as ‘EC fertilisers’ but you’ll need to make sure you meet EU standards. Read the EU’s position on these standards. Manufacturers will need to be established within the EU or in NI.
Trading with the EU and EEA
You’ll still be able to manufacture your products as ‘EC fertilisers’ and export to the EU/EEA, but you’ll need to make sure you meet EU standards. The European Commission recently published detailed guidance setting out the EU’s position on these standards.
Manufacturers will need to be established within the EU or NI.
If you’re based in GB and are sending goods to the EU you’ll need to complete a UK customs export declaration from 1 January 2021. Read the Border Operating Model.
GB will no longer be able to import or export fertiliser from the EU using the mutual recognition principle.You’ll be able to import into NI from the EU under this principle, but you can not export to the EU.
The EU carries out additional checks on goods imported into and placed on the EU market from third countries. GB will qualify as a third country and will be subject to these checks from January 1st 2021.
Return rejected fertiliser exports to GB
If your consignment is rejected at an EU border control post (BCP), it can re-enter GB through any point of entry.
For consignments of solid ammonium nitrate fertiliser with a nitrogen content of more than 28% of its weight, in a consignment weighing 500 kilograms or more, you must:
notify the return port authority of the consignment type, arrival date and that it’s a returned good and the reason for return
email fertilisers@defra.gov.uk at least 5 days before the shipment arrives in GB
You’ll need to provide Defra with:
a valid detonation resistance test (DRT) certificate
the sampling certificate
Defra’s Shipment Identification Document
the reason for the return outlined in the covering email
If a valid DRT certificate is not presented, Border Force will detain the goods and the Trading Standards Office (TSO) will be contacted.
Ammonium nitrate imports
There will be changes to the rules for the import of ammonium nitrate fertilisers from EU and non-EU countries into GB.
This will affect solid ammonium nitrate fertilisers if: * nitrogen content is more than 28% of its weight * the consignment weighs 500 kilograms or more
From 1 January 2021, the new rules will be the same for all countries.
To import ammonium nitrate, you’ll need to apply for a DRT certificate issued by a UK-based competent laboratory accredited under standard ISO 17025.
Each certificate should relate to a sample from each production run batch. A ‘batch’ means the quantity of material manufactured without alteration of composition or characteristics, with a maximum batch run of 92 days.
You’ll also need to:
make sure that each batch, or part batch, arrives in GB no more than 60 days after the DRT certificate is issued
email fertilisers@defra.gov.uk at least 5 days before the shipment arrives in GB You must keep the records of any batch or part batch and their DRT certificates for at least 2 years.
For imports from the EU, there will be a 2-year transitional period to introduce these changes from 1 January 2021. For imports from non-EU countries (third countries), the 2-year transitional period will not apply.
NI’s AN import rules will not change.
Published 11 March 2019
Last updated 2 December 2020 + show all updates
Contents