In the EU, digital labelling is already used for some products containing chemicals, for instance batteries, and rules for digital labelling are under consideration for other products, like detergents, cosmetics and chemicals. The simplification of labelling obligations is expected to reduce annual costs by, on average, €57 000 for a large company and €4 500 for an SME.
Up until now, regulation (EU) 2019/1009 has governed the requirements for the labelling of fertilisers. The Commission’s proposal, published on 27 February 2023, aims to improve the readability of labels, introducing the possibility of providing labelling information in a digital format. The Council has now adopted its position (‘negotiating mandate’) on the proposed regulation on digital labelling of EU fertilising products. This proposal, which amends regulation (EU) 2019/1009, aims to improve the readability of labels, leading to a more efficient use of fertilising products, and to simplify the labelling obligations for suppliers while reducing costs for the industry.
While the Council’s position shares the main objectives of the amended regulation, it introduces several improvements in an attempt to strike the right balance between moving towards the digitalisation of labels for economic operators and the prevention of potential information problems for end-users, taking into consideration digital skills and connectivity limitations that some farmers may face.
Héctor Gómez Hernández, acting Spanish Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism said: “This regulation reinforces the digitalisation of the fertilisers’ sector. The new rules will cut red tape and costs for producers and give clear and consumer-friendly information to farmers when they purchase the products they need.
Proposal
Labelling of fertilisers is currently regulated by regulation (EU) 2019/1009. The revision of this legislation proposes allowing suppliers of fertilising products to communicate labelling information in a physical format, a digital format, or a combination of the two. The Commission’s text proposes that a digital-only format will be allowed when the EU fertilising products are sold without packaging or when the products are sold to economic operators who are not end-users of the products.
Farmers and other consumers of fertilising products sold in packaging would continue to benefit from both digital and physical labels for the most important information (i.e. health and environmental protection, agronomic efficiency or contents). The Commission’s proposal prescribes the content and the technological requirements for digital labels. The economic operators would have to ensure that the digital label will be searchable, accessible, free of charge and capable of meeting the needs of vulnerable groups. The Commission would be empowered to update the general digital labelling requirements through implementing acts.
The Council’s mandate clarifies the obligation to provide a physical label for products intended for end-users, whether they are sold with or without packaging. The requirements for digital labels have been streamlined to avoid excessive administrative burdens. For instance, the quantity of the product, which changes frequently, has been made a non-mandatory element of the digital label to avoid a new digital label having to be generated during each transaction if the volume of the product changes. Likewise, the production date of the product has been retained as a non-mandatory element of the digital label if it is already stated in the physical label.
To ensure better traceability and to level the playing field with local distributors, the Council mandate adds importer information as a mandatory element of digital labels. To align with the Council’s position on the Chemicals Labelling and Packaging regulation, the mandate introduces a clarification to make it clear that the requirement upon economic operators to provide, upon request by end-users, the information included in the digital label by alternative means and free of charge applies independently of a purchase.
The negotiating mandate introduces a requirement to post physical labels in a visible place at the point of sale to ensure that end-users and market surveillance authorities have access to the information not provided in the digital label. This would allow potential buyers to consult the data needed to make an informed decision regardless of their digital skills or access to the internet, while providing distributors with a simple way to comply with the obligation to provide this information to their customers.
The Council position makes sure that labels will continue to include the relevant information for assessing the agronomic efficiency of the fertiliser and for selecting the right product at the time of purchase. Therefore, some elements which, in the Commission’s original proposal, had been moved to the digital label, have been moved back to the physical format. This includes, among other information, the soluble content of the nutrients in fertilisers.
Negotiating mandate
The negotiating mandate agreed formalises the Council’s negotiating position. It provides the Council presidency with a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament, which will start as soon as the Parliament adopts its position.
Providing information on a label in a digital form (‘digital label’) has clear benefits. Digital labelling can improve the communication of labelling information both by avoiding overcrowded physical labels and by allowing users to rely on various reading options available only for digital formats, such as increased font, automatic search, loud speakers or translation into other languages. In addition, digital labelling of EU fertilising products contributes to the ongoing progress with regard to digitalisation of the European agricultural sector and can facilitate the reporting obligations of farmers regarding the use of such products. Digital labelling can also lead to a more efficient management of the labelling obligations by economic operators, by facilitating the update of labelling information and permitting a more targeted information to users. In addition, digital labelling can contribute to reducing labelling costs all along the supply chain, given that the labels of EU fertilising products may be changed following a transaction between economic operators, before reaching end-users.
However, digital labelling can also create new challenges for the vulnerable population groups, in particular persons with no, or insufficient, digital skills or persons with disabilities, and thus accentuate the digital divide. Therefore, digital labelling should be introduced in Regulation (EU) 2019/1009, under certain conditions, taking into account the need to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment, and the digital readiness
Economic operators should remain free to choose if to provide a digital or physical label. This will ensure that such economic operators have the flexibility to opt for the rules most appropriate to their situation. It is particularly important not to create unjustified costs for small and medium-sized enterprises for which digital labelling might be challenging, given the reduced volumes or types of EU fertilising products.
Economic operators should be allowed to provide all the labelling elements referred to in Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 in a digital label only for the EU fertilising products supplied to other economic operators, with or without packaging. The use of digital labels in such cases can reduce the labelling costs in the supply chain. Importers or distributors will have the possibility to affix a physical label to the EU fertilising product directly in the official languages needed for their specific situation. In addition, labelling costs can be avoided in the case of blending, packaging or re-packaging of EU fertilising products, since the products can be labelled with a physical label only once, before reaching end-users. As products are supplied to economic operators, the communication of information to end-users is not affected. Where the economic operators choose to provide, in addition to a digital label, a physical label, they should be free to decide which labelling elements to include in that physical label.
Since digital labels, similar to physical labels, are a means of providing mandatory information on EU fertilising products to users, economic operators should ensure free access to digital labels. In addition, and in order to improve the chances that users will, in practice, retrieve the information, the information provided on the digital label should be easily accessible. The data carrier should lead directly to the digital label, without the need to register in advance, to browse a website, install applications or provide a password, and access to the information should not be conditioned by the geographical area within the territory of the European Union. Economic operators should not mix the information required by Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 with other information not requested by Regulation (EU) 2019/1009, such as marketing or commercial statements. Digital space has no space limitations typical for physical labels affixed to the packaging. It is therefore important to keep the labelling elements provided in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 concentrated in one place so that they are not difficult to find among various other information which economic operators might provide. Economic operators should also ensure that digital labels are presented in a way that takes into account the needs of vulnerable population groups, to further reduce the challenges such groups may face.
The Proposal
Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 introduces labelling requirements that are much more extensive than Regulation (EC) 2003/2003. This reflected new social demands and concerns, as well as the fact that the new rules drastically opened the EU market for products that are innovative and unknown, and therefore require better user information. However, overloaded labels cause two problems: they are both difficult to read by interested persons and difficult to manage for economic operators. Providing a lot of details on a label makes it difficult to identify the essential information and may also need frequent updates, thereby increasing the labelling costs.
This proposal is governed by the same general objectives as Regulation (EU) 2019/1009, namely ensure a high level of protection for human health and the environment and the well-functioning of the internal market. In response to the two problems identified, this proposal follows two specific objectives: improving the readability of labels and facilitating their management by economic operators.
Fertilising products are part of the food chain and account for a significant portion of the price of agricultural products. In the 2021 Communication on energy prices acknowledged the economic difficulties faced by the energy-intensive fertiliser industry following the dramatic increase in energy prices as of the autumn of 2021. As explained in the 2022 Communication on food security, the war of aggression of Russia against Ukraine exacerbated the economic difficulties already faced by the industry. The current difficult political and economic context speaks in favour of, firstly, accelerating the existing trend of improving the use efficiency of fertilising products and, secondly, streamlining the costs of bringing fertilising products to the market. This proposal supports both trends in the fertilising products policy.
The provisional agreement reached with the European Parliament awaits endorsement and formal adoption by both institutions. Digital labels, typically QR or barcode-based, redirect users to web pages where label information is stored. They offer cost savings and ease of content updates compared to physical labels.
While digital labelling improves information storage and accessibility, concerns persist regarding varying levels of digital literacy among different demographics. In the EU, digital labelling is already in use for certain chemical-containing products such as batteries, with considerations for expansion to other products, including detergents and cosmetics. This move towards simplified labelling obligations is projected to yield significant cost reductions for companies.
