EU: Commission approves Austrian, Finnish and Swedish ban on high cadmium fertilisers

The European Commission has authorised Austria, Finland and Sweden to maintain their existing bans on the importation of fertilisers with a high cadmium content until 31 December 2005. The exemption concerns European Union legislation which guarantees the free circulation of fertilisers in the Internal Market. The bans concern phosphate fertilisers with a cadmium content above 75 mg/kg phosphate (P2O5) for Austria, above 50 mg/kg of phosphorous for Finland and above 100 mg/kg of phosphorous for Sweden.

May 31, 2002

The European Commission has authorised Austria, Finland and Sweden to maintain their existing bans on the importation of fertilisers with a high cadmium content until 31 December 2005.

The exemption concerns European Union legislation which guarantees the free circulation of fertilisers in the Internal Market. The bans concern phosphate fertilisers with a cadmium content above 75 mg/kg phosphate (P2O5) for Austria, above 50 mg/kg of phosphorous for Finland and above 100 mg/kg of phosphorous for Sweden.

The Commission came to the conclusion that these bans are justified on the basis of risk assessments submitted by Austria, Finland and Sweden which show that there is an unacceptable risk from cadmium to humans and the environment.

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