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Import of fertilisers and other fertilising products to Norway

Before you import fertilising products to Norway, you should be aware of the regulations for import and trade. Here you will find an overview of relevant regulations and links to where you can find more information. Be aware that the expression “import” is used both for goods from the EU/EEA area and goods from countries outside the EU/EEA area in this guide.

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When placing a fertilising product on the Norwegian market, you must choose which regulations to market the product in accordance with. There are three possible options:

  1. The product is an EU-fertilising product according to regulation (EU) 2019/1009.
  2. The product can be marketed in accordance with the Norwegian regulations for fertilising products.
  3. Products that are lawfully marketed in another EU/EEC country, can be marketed in Norway in line with the principle of mutual recognition.

In addition to the regulations for fertilising products, other regulations may also apply. You can read more about the relevant regulations in the paragraphs below. Fertilising products are fertilisers, liming materials, growing media, soil improvers, biostimulants, additives and mixtures.

Pre-registration for importers of EU-fertilising products

The importer of an EU-fertilising products must register before import and marketing of the product in Norway.

You are considered an importer both when you bring in EU-fertilising products from EU/EEA countries and from countries outside the EU/EEA area.

Norway has adaptions to the regulation. The limit value for cadmium in phosphate fertilisers is 100 mg Cd/kg phosphorus (P), which is equivalent to 44 mg Cd/kg P2O5.

The regulation does not affect the application of the national regulations on plant health and invasive alien species. This means for example that many EC-fertilising products need to be followed by a plant health certificate.

It strongly recommended to label the nutrients in elemental form when marketing products in Norway. We also recommend to label product with the heavy metal content. Users of fertilising products in some areas have restriction on the heavy metal content in the fertilising products they can use because of natural high background levels of heavy metals. Products that are not labelled with the heavy metal content will have a use limit of 2 tons per decare in 10 years.

Pre-registration of products following national fertiliser regulations

Prior to marketing in Norway, the product must be registered with the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Registration is done electronically, and you will need a Norwegian company code to complete. The registration may be performed by a Norwegian-registered foreign business NUF (brreg.no). Products marketed according to the principle of mutual recognition also need to be registered. Biostimulants are currently exempted from the requirement to register.

Registration is free of charge. When you have registered your product, you must wait for a confirmation. Normally you will receive the confirmation a few days after you have registered the product.

Norwegian regulations on fertilising products

Regulation No 951 of July 4 2003 on organic fertilising products etc (lovdata.no). applies to organic fertilisers, organo-mineral fertilisers, soil improvers other than liming materials, growing media, mulching materials plus composting additives and plant biostimulants with microorganisms.

Regulation No 1063 of July 20 2003 on trade with fertilisers and liming materials etc (lovdata.no). applies to mineral fertilisers and liming materials. It also applies to plant biostimulants and composting additives other than those containing microorganisms.

Read mot about national technical regulations for fertilising products (regjeringen.no).

Mutual recognition for products from other EU/EEA countries

Fertilising products lawfully marketed in accordance with the national legislation in another EEC country, can be marketed in Norway in line with the principle of mutual recognition. Be aware that the plant health regulations are not a part of the EEA-agreement and therefore mutual recognition does not apply in the field of plant health. The Norwegian Regulations of 1 December 2000 no. 1333 relating to plants and measures against pests will apply to most organic fertilising products.

The mutual recognition principle ensures market access for goods that are not or are only partly subject to EU harmonisation legislation. A prerequisite for applying mutual recognition when marketing fertilising products in Norway, is that the products is produced in accordance with requirements resulting in the same level of protection of health and environment as the Norwegian legislation. Without defining this as an exhaustive list, we consider these national labelling requirements to be necessary to protect health and environment in Norway:

  • Heavy metal content for fertilising products of organic origin or mineral growing media must be below the limit in the Norwegian fertilising product regulation or within what is allowed in regulation (EC) 2019/1009 (eur-lex.europa.eu) for product marketed according to that regulation. Norway have use limitations based on heavy metal content. It is therefore recommended to label the heavy metal content, or the relevant heavy metal class found in the Norwegian regulation. Products that are not labelled with heavy metal content will be assumed to have the highest allowed content when used.
  • The cadmium content in mineral fertilisers must be below 100 mg cadmium per kilo phosphorus
  • The products themselves and their use shall not pose risks for transmission of diseases to humans, animals or plants. For products of organic origin, that are not covered by the animal by-products regulation, the products shall not contain Salmonella or infectious parasite eggs, and the content of thermotolerant coliforms shall be less than 2.500 per gram dry matter (We also accepts analyses of Escherichia coli with the same conditions as the animal by- product regulation).
  • It is strongly recommended to label the nutrients on elemental form. Norwegian users are unfamiliar with the oxide form.
  • Labels should be in Norwegian. Swedish or Danish is however accepted if words that are not similar are translated.
  • For professional users, the phosphorus content in fertilising products should be labelled as specified in the Norwegian legislation.
  • The labelling must contain contact information either to the Norwegian company responsible for marketing the product in Norway or to the company responsible in the EEC- country whose legislation the product follow.

Plant health certificate

Plant health is not covered by the EEA agreement. The Norwegian Regulations of 1 December 2000 no. 1333 relating to plants and measures against pests (lovdata.no) applies to organic fertilising products. Many fertilising products need to be followed by a plant health certificate when imported to Norway, see Annex 5A point 9 in the regulations.

When the fertilising products arrive in Norway, you will need to perform a reception control. As an importer you shall also notify the Norwegian Food Safety Authority before the goods arrive at the place where reception control is performed. Before you receive the first import shipment, you need to register as an importer of plants and plant materials.

Fertilising products that are animal by-products

The animal by-product regulations can have additional requirements for fertilising products that are animal by-products. Read more about import and trade with animal by-products (in Norwegian only)

Living organisms (Invasive alien species)

Invasive alien species is not covered by the EEA agreement. The Norwegian regulation 19. June 2015 no. 716 (lovdata.no) relating to invasive alien species applies to fertilising products with living organisms. All importers of organisms have a duty of care according to that regulation. Before import of most organisms there is a need for permission. There are a few exemptions, and most single-celled- organism can be imported without a permission. For questions contact Norwegian Environment Agency (environmentagency.no).

Plant protection product or fertilising product?

Products with active substances listed in regulation (EC) 540/2011 (eur-lex.europa.eu) are normally considered plant protection products and need to be approved according to regulation (EC) 1107/2009 (eur-lex.europa.eu). The same applies to products with other active substances with effects that comes under the effects described in article 2 in regulation (EC) 1107/2009 (eur-lex.europa.eu).

Claims on the label and in the marketing should not be claims that is covered by regulation (EC) 1107/2009 (eur-lex.europa.eu)

Other relevant regulations

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority is responsible for control of most aspects when it comes to fertilising products. Import of fertilising products is however regulated by several different regulations.

For question related to ammonium nitrate and detonation test contact The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection (dsb.no)

For question related to invasive alien species, waste status, REACH and CLP contact Norwegian Environment Agency (environmentagency.no).