Straight ammonium nitrate fertilisers of high nitrogen content

1) OBJECTIVE

To lay down additional rules to those provided for in Directive 76/116/EEC in order to avoid use of straight ammonium nitrate fertilisers of high nitrogen content for purposes other than those for which they are intended and which could endanger persons and property, for example as explosives.

2) COMMUNITY MEASURES

Council Directive 80/876/EEC of 15 July 1980 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to straight ammonium nitrate fertilisers of high nitrogen content.

Amended by Directive 97/63/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 1997.

3) CONTENTS

Directive 80/876/EEC

This directive applies to all ammonium nitrate based products containing more than 28 % by weight of nitrogen and possibly also containing inorganic additives or inert substances.

Such products may be described as "EEC fertiliser" if they comply with the characteristics and limits laid down in Annex I to the directive on porosity (oil retention), percentage by weight of combustible material, particle size, chlorine content and heavy metals.

Such fertilisers must be packaged. The international rules on the carriage of dangerous substances apply to consignments of such fertilisers.

No Member State may prohibit, restrict or hinder the marketing of fertilisers bearing the description "EEC fertiliser" and meeting the requirements of the directive, apart from on public safety or public health grounds. In this case, they must inform the other Member States and the Commission, which will then give its view and take the appropriate steps, for example proceed with technical adaptation of the directive.

The Member States are required to check that fertilisers placed on the market comply with the directive. They may also carry out an additional test on resistance to detonation in line with the criteria set out in Annex II to determine the explosiveness of the fertiliser.

Member States may not impose on fertilisers meeting the requirements in the directive storage regulations as stringent as those applying to products which fail to satisfy the same requirements.

The Commission is responsible for establishing the method of checking compliance with the characteristics and limits for fertilisers or of carrying out the test of resistance to detonation and the analysis and sampling methods and maximum permissible heavy metal content. It will be assisted in these tasks by the committee set up by Directive 76/116/EEC to adjust to technical progress directives concerning the abolition of technical barriers to trade in fertilisers.

Directive 97/63/EC

This directive replaces the description "EEC fertiliser" on the labelling of fertilisers covered by Directive 80/876/EEC by the words "EC fertiliser".