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In a special session on March 27, the representative body of the Federal States (Länder) approved the amendment to the regulations presented by the federal government, which, at the request of the federal states of Hesse and Saarland, includes longer transition periods.
The strict rules on the use of fertilizers in areas termed nitrate vulnerable will not enter into force before January 1, 2021. The Länder will also have time until the end of the year to modify the designation of these zones and to develop appropriate administrative arrangements. In a first resolution, the Upper House had strongly criticized the amendment of the Regulation, stating that it contained too many technical deficiencies, as well as some requirements and specifications that were difficult to apply in practice, both by the farmers and by the official managing and monitoring authorities. The Länder were satisfied with the decision taken by the federal government to make 1 billion euros available for the next 4 years, in order to support farmers in the necessary changes they will have to make as a result of the requirements of the new Fertilizer Regulation.
Among the new restrictions on fertilizing in zones declared nitrate vulnerable, (the entry into force of which is postponed until January 1, 2021) are a 20% reduction in the average amount of fertilizer required --> [allowed?] per farm, a limit of 170 kg/hectare and per plot for applying nitrogen from organic fertilizers, the extension of rest periods, as well as a ban on autumn fertilization. The postponement is also granted for those bodies of groundwater or river basins which are considered partially polluted but have not yet been declared as such by the Länder.
April 30, 2020/ Notícias del Exterio-MAPA/ Spain.
https://www.mapa.gob.es
