Spain published the standard on commercialization of certain means of plant protection

The Official Gazette of Spain published the Real Decree No. 534/2017 of the Ministry of Agriculture, which was approved by the latest Council of Ministers and modifies the current norm for the sale of some phytosanitary protection measures in order to achieve the national normal in terms of the new European framework on the issue.

 

The goal is to achieve an optimal phytosanitary coverage regarding the sustainable management of the agricultural production and to allow a better adaptation of the sector and companies for the changes introduced.

 

The new norm includes a level of application for monitoring measures that contain semiochemical substances, including pheromones that are recognized as active substances in the market of the Regulation No. 1107/2009 related to the sales of phytosanitary products.

 

These measures, often used in Integrated Pest Management, were excluded from consideration as measures of crop protection and, therefore, had their registration cancelled. This modification anticipates the widening of the spectrum of available tools for the achievement of a sustainability goal envisioned by the Ministry.

 

Through the new Real Decree, the initial transient period of 18 months for making, commercialization, sale and use of biostimulators has been extended to 36 months. This measure will be applied with retroactive character and will give legal coverage to these products of great importance for sustainable agriculture until the publication of a future legislation in the European community about fertilizers, under which they will be covered.