WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.538
29September 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-4047)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofAgriculture, Nature Management andFisheries
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification canbe
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Treated andprocessed
animal fertilizers, sewage sludge, compost andblack soil, measuring instruments to
determine themass ofliquid animal fertilizers, sampling equipment forliquid andsolid
animal fertilizers.
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Regulation on
Determining theContent ofAnimal andOther Organic Fertilisers
6. Description ofcontent: TheMinisterial Regulation governs thewayinwhich theweight
istobedetermined ofother organic fertilizers (sewage sludge, black soilandcompost)
andanimal fertilizers.
Inaddition, itregulates inwhich cases animal fertilizers aretobesampled and
analysed. TheMinisterial Regulation stipulates that, inprinciple, samples ofanimal
fertilizers mustbetaken byarecognized sampling body. Therequirements tobemetby
recognized sampling bodies havenotbeenincluded inthepresent Regulation. Animal
fertilizers mustbeanalysed bylaboratories which follow theworking method included in
theAP05 Accreditation Programme andtheymust alsomeet therequirements ofthe
Accreditation Programme. TheAccreditation Programme isalsobeing notified hereby.
Theregulations concern farms which qualify forthesystem ofregulating mineral levies,
aslaiddown intheFertilizer Act. Thelevies areimposed onthedifference between
supply andremoval ofphosphate andnitrogen onthefarm, such databeing made
available through declaration.
./.G/TBT/Notif.97.538
Page2
6. Description ofcontent: (cont'd)
Theabove system covers afixed system andaso-called accurate system. The
fixed system ismainly based onthefixed values laiddown bylawwhilst therefined
system ismainly based onrealvalues. Ifafarm chooses totakepartintheaccurate
system, allanimal fertilizers supplied toandremoved from hisfarm must besampled
andanalysed. Thesampling andanalysis obligation does not,inprinciple, apply to
farms which haveopted forthefixed system. Thesystem ofregulating mineral levies
alsoaims toimplement ECCouncil Directive of12December 1991, No.91/676/EEC
concerning theprotection ofwaters against pollution caused bynitrates from agricultural
sources (OJEC I375). Theexemption provision specified intheexplanatory notetothe
Regulation inaccordance with theWeights andMeasures ActoftheMinister for
Economic Affairs shallbenotified separately.
7. Objective andrationale: Theweight ofanimal fertilizers supplied toandremoved from
afarmandthephosphate andnitrogen content thereof aretaken intoaccount toestablish
exemptions from theregulating levy. Itisimportant toestablish these values as
accurately aspossible fortheaccurate system. Forthisreason, requirements are
prescribed formeasuring andweighing instruments bymeans ofwhich thefertilizers are
weighed andforthesampling equipment ofanimal fertilizers. Inaddition, itis
important thatthesampling iscarried outcarefully. Therequirements tobemetby
laboratories arenecessary inorder toguarantee conformity intheworking method anda
certain levelofquality.
8. Relevant documents:
- Articles 13,13ato13c,13hto13k,13oto13r,13y,13ak, Articles D1toD3,
ofAppendix D,oftheFertilizer Act;
- AP05 Accreditation Programme.
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:1January 1998
10. Final dateforcomments: 16November 1997
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: