PROSPECTIVE EU CADMIUM REGULATION FOR FERTILIZERS

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PROSPECTIVE EU CADMIUM REGULATION FOR FERTILIZERS
IFA 2004 Technical Conference Beijing 20-23 April
2004 J.A.M. van Balken EFMA
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STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION

• NEED FOR A REGULATION?
• CADMIUM SITUATION IN EUROPEAN UNION
• PRESENT Cd REGULATION IN EU AND REST OF THE WORLD
• ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION
• POSSIBLE SCENARIOS FOR A REGULATION
• MEMBER STATES VIEWS
• MOST RECENT COMMISSION PROPOSAL
• CRITICAL ANALYSES
• EFMAS VIEWS
• THE WAY FORWARD

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NEED FOR A CD REGULATION?

• Cd CAN CAUSE ADVERSE HEALTH ASPECTS
• No environmental half life (persistent)
• Removal from human body is only slowly (half life
  ca 20 years)
• Small margin Cd levels in body/levels that cause
  damage (?)
• PRECAUTIONARY APPROACH
• Securing adequate supply of food
• Phosphate rocks come with Cd
• IS THERE A REAL NEED?
• Maximum levels in food are already set
  (EC466/2001)
• Decline of Cd in soil (Less P fertilizers
  used/decline atm dep.
• Risk to health of Cd from fertilizers not
  demonstrated.

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SITUATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

• SITUATION NOT DIFFERENT FORM REST OF THE WORLD.
• Original load in soil Atm. Dep. Manure sewage
  sludge, Fert.
• Cd CONCENTRATIONS VARY FROM REGION TO REGION
• Portugal 0.08 mg/kg dry matter Ireland 0.54
  mg/kg dry matter

No Correlation
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SITUATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
No Correlation
Should the EU have the same restrictive standard
as three Member States totalling only 4.5 of the
Fertilizer market?.
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PRESENT Cd REGULATION IN EU AND WORLD

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION

• STARTING POINT
• MEMBER STATES RISK ASSESSMENT
• MEMBER STATES VIEWS
• OPINION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• EU COMMISISON DRAFT PROPOSAL 1-8-2003
• EU COMMISSION DRAFT PROPOSAL 9-10-2003

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION starting point

• 1995 Austria, Finland and Sweden joint the EU
• Mandatory limits for Cd in the three accession
  countries. Existing MS no legislation.
• Up to now no acceptable solution
• 1996 proposal EFMA for voluntary agreement
• 135 mg Cd/kg P2O5 (1996)
• 100 mg Cd/kg P2O5 (2001)
• 60 mg Cd /kg P2O5 (2006)
• No solution for imported products
• No agreement on voluntary agreement reached
• Three derogations granted 1995,1998,2001

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION

• STARTING POINT
• MEMBER STATES RISK ASSESSMENT
• MEMBER STATES VIEWS
• OPINION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• EU COMMISISON DRAFT PROPOSAL 1-8-2003
• EU COMMISSION DRAFT PROPOSAL 9-10-2003

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION Member States
Risk Assessment

• EU Commission outsourced RA study to ERM
• Risk Assessment studies performed by MS
• Only (7/15)MS took part and quality variable
• Analyses of RA studies by ERM (2001)
• Possible options for risk reduction measures
• Limits on Cd in fertilizers (60-40-20
  2006-2010-2015)
• Cadmium charges
• Management of Cd in soils
• Regional Approach
• Member States Views on the proposed measures

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION

• STARTING POINT
• MEMBER STATES RISK ASSESSMENT
• MEMBER STATES VIEWS
• OPINION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• EU COMMISISON DRAFT PROPOSAL 1-8-2003
• EU COMMISSION DRAFT PROPOSAL 9-10-2003

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION Member States
views

• Legislative limits (AT,DK, FI,SE)
• Limits agreed with industry (ES)
• Development of Decadmiation (ES)
• Labelling (AT, FI, PT,SE)
• Regional approach (DK, FI)
• Economic instruments (DK,PT)
• Voluntary agreements (DK)
• Be careful for barriers to trade (FR)
• Stakeholder consultation (SE)
• Cost and benefits for farmer (SE)
• Compare options versus doing nothing (SE)

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION

• STARTING POINT
• MEMBER STATES RISK ASSESSMENT
• MEMBER STATES VIEWS
• OPINION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• EU COMMISISON DRAFT PROPOSAL 1-8-2003
• EU COMMISSION DRAFT PROPOSAL 9-10-2003

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION Opinion of the
CSTEE)

• Two Questions addressed to the CSTEE
• Is it scientifically justified to conclude that
• 1-20 mg Cd/kg P2O5 accumulation is slow or
  decreasing
• 60 mg Cd/kg P2O5 andgt accumulation is high
• Opinion of the CSTEE
• True as a general trend
• Sometimes opposing trends in soil accumulation
• Many factors contribute soil, pH, climate,
  practice, algorithm

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION Opinion of the
CSTEE) Continued

• A derivation of a limit of Cd in fertilizers
  exclusively based on soil accumulation does not
  take into account the level of risk for human
  health
• A limit for cadmium in fertilizers should be
  derived based on a risk assessment approach
  (exposure and effect) taking into account all Cd
  sources
• Note CSTEE average Cd Contents
• Commission maximum Cd Contents
• (60 max. taking out gt60 means already closer to
  20)

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION

• STARTING POINT
• MEMBER STATES RISK ASSESSMENT
• MEMBER STATES VIEWS
• OPINION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• EU COMMISISON DRAFT PROPOSAL 1-8-2003
• EU COMMISSION DRAFT PROPOSAL 9-10-2003

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION EU Draft
Proposal 1-8-2003

• Draft Proposal of the Commission on 1-8-2003
• gt5 years upper limit of 60 mg Cd/kg P2O5
• gt10 years upper limit of 40 mg Cd/kg P2O5
• gt15 years upper limit of 20 mg Cd/kg P2O5
• Internet consultation
• 53/65 contributions against 8 for proposal
• Absence of Green Movement Parties
• Not perceived as issue for public concern/driven
  by politics
• No evidence for Cd uptake by food
• Other DGs more relaxed (e.g. Directive
  COM(2003)423 allows 4-8 x more Cd from atm. dep.
  to the soil than this proposal allows for
  fertilzers.

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION EU Draft
Proposal 1-8-2003 EFMAs position

• The proposal is not based on a appropriate risk
  assessment
• The proposal is based on wrong assumptions on the
  current situation of cadmium input into
  agricultural soils and the environment as well as
  future trends
• The proposal is not in line with the findings of
  the CSTEE, nor does it follow the approach
  proposed by the committee.
• The proposal makes wrong assumptions on the
  technical and economic feasibility of a future
  decadmiation technology
• The proposal makes wrong assumptions on the
  impact on the European fertilizer industry, the
  farmer and the phosphate supply countries

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION

• STARTING POINT
• MEMBER STATES RISK ASSESSMENT
• MEMBER STATES VIEWS
• OPINION OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• EU COMMISISON DRAFT PROPOSAL 1-8-2003
• EU COMMISSION DRAFT PROPOSAL 9-10-2003

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION EU Draft
Proposal 9-10-2003

• gt5 years a upper limit of 60 mg Cd/kg P2O5
• gt5 a upper limit for the annual average for each
  manufacturer will be 40mg of Cd/kg P2O5.
• From 1 January 2006 straight or compound
  phosphate fertilizers containing more than 5
  P2O5 will be labelled for cadmium content if the
  cadmium content exceeds 20mg of Cd/kg P2O5

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION Industrys
response

• Last proposal more realistic, however, apart from
  our earlier comments
• Algorithms used in RA might overstate present
  input
• Rock phosphate sources with low Cd even less
  available (aver. 40 can not be achieved) (slide
  2223)
• The issue with imports is not solved
• Labelling could only raise unfounded concerns
• EFMA will continue to debate in a positive way

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SOURCE AVAILABILITY LOW Cd ROCKS
Mining and Processing of Phosphate Raw Material
in RussiaSergey Fedorov, CJSC "Phosagro" AG,
Russia IFA St.Petersburg
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SOURCE AVAILABILITY LOW Cd ROCKS
Mining and Processing of Phosphate Raw Material
in RussiaSergey Fedorov, CJSC "Phosagro" AG,
Russia IFA St.Petersburg
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EFMAs POSITION AND WAY FORWARD

• The industry accepts a maximum limit of 60
  mg/kgP2O5 (leading to 40 average)
• Additional research on the effects of Cd is
  necessary (Commission Scientific Community)
• Additional analysis of the SCOPE contributions is
  necessary
• Additional research on decadmiation technology is
  necessary.

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ACTIVITIES OF THE EU COMMISSION EU Draft
Proposal 24-03-2004

• gt5 years a upper limit of 60 mg Cd/kg P2O5
• gt5 a upper limit for the annual average for each
  manufacturer will be 40mg of Cd/kg P2O5.
• From 1 January 2006 straight or compound
  phosphate fertilizers containing more than 5
  P2O5 will be labelled for cadmium content if the
  cadmium content exceeds 20mg of Cd/kg P2O5