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Press Release from The European Commission DG XI, Environment, Nuclear Safety and Civil Protection,
The European Commission has authorised Austria, Finland and Sweden to maintain their existing bans on the importation of fertilizers with a high cadmium content until 31 December 2005. The exemption concerns European Union legislation which guarantees the free circulation of fertilizers in the Internal Market. The bans concern phosphate fertilizers with a cadmium content above 75 mg/kg phosphate (P2O5) for Austria, above 50 mg/kg of phosphorous for Finland and above 100 mg/kg of phosphorous for Sweden. The Commission came to the conclusion that these bans are justified on the basis of risk assessments submitted by Austria, Finland and Sweden which show that there is an unacceptable risk from cadmium to humans and the environment.
Austria, Finland and Sweden already had upper limits for cadmium in phosphate fertilizers before they joined the EU, and they were allowed to maintain those limits as a temporary measure as a derogation from Directive 76/116/EEC which establishes an Internal Market in fertilizers, in recognition of the particular soil and climatic conditions in these countries, which can lead to unacceptable levels of cadmium being washed out of the soil into waterways unless the cadmium content of fertilizer is restricted.
Only phosphate fertilizers are affected as these are the only ones which contain significant, but widely varying, amounts of cadmium as a naturally occurring impurity. Whereas phosphates are essential to plant growth, and cannot therefore be substituted by other fertilizer types, cadmium is potentially toxic to humans and the environment.
The exemption initially granted to Austria, Finland and Sweden when they joined the EU was limited in time because the Commission planned to present harmonising legislation on cadmium in fertilizers to provide a high level of protection for human health and the environment throughout the EU. However, establishing the scientific basis for such a proposal has proved much more complex and lengthier than expected, with the risk assessments on cadmium by the Member States still under evaluation by the independent Scientific Committee. Depending on the outcome of that evaluation, the Commission intends to propose harmonising EU legislation on cadmium in fertilizers in order to complete the Internal Market in fertilizers.
Because such harmonising legislation could not be presented before the initial exemption expired, an extension of the exemption was requested by Austria, Finland and Sweden under Article 95(4) of the EC Treaty. This was granted by the Commission under Article 95(6) of the Treaty because it is considered to be justified by the protection of human health and the environment, and it is not considered to be a disguised restriction on trade.
The relevant Commission decision can be found on:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/chemicals/derogation/derogation.htm
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