Order No. OMAIA165/2025 of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry validating the Functional Product Categories and the Categories of Component Materials for EU Fertilizer Products.

This Ministerial Order approves two detailed annexes: (i) functional product categories (FPCs) for EU fertilizing products, and (ii) categories of component materials (CMCs) that may be used in such products. The Order defines the scope and structure of EU fertilizing products placed on the Moldovan market, including fertilizers, liming materials, soil improvers, growing media, inhibitors, plant biostimulants and blends, and links their placing on the market to conformity assessment procedures and future national rules on labelling, internal production control and reference values for pharmacologically active substances. Annex 1 classifies fertilizing products into seven FPCs and sets binding technical requirements for each category and subcategory. It defines organic, organo mineral and inorganic fertilizers (solid and liquid, with macro- and micro nutrients), including specific rules for ammonium nitrate based fertilizers with high nitrogen content, such as maximum nitrogen from ammonium nitrate, detonation resistance, oil retention, combustible carbon content, pH, particle size and impurity limits. It establishes maximum levels for heavy metals (Cd, Cr VI, Hg, Ni, Pb, As), biuret, copper and zinc, and microbiological criteria (limits for Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, enterococci and other pathogens) for organic and organo mineral fertilizers, soil improvers, growing media and biostimulants. The text also sets minimum nutrient contents, organic carbon thresholds, conversion factors between elemental and oxide forms, and specific performance criteria for nitrification, denitrification and urease inhibitors, as well as for microbial and non microbial plant biostimulants. Blends of fertilizing products are regulated through requirements on component conformity, safety, labelling and the obligation to draw up EU declarations of conformity. Annex 2 regulates the CMCs that may be used in EU fertilizing products. It lists 15 CMCs (primary substances and mixtures, plant materials and extracts, composts, various types of digestate, food industry by products, microorganisms, polymeric nutrients and other polymers, animal by product derivatives, waste based by products, precipitated phosphate salts and derivatives, thermally oxidized materials and derivatives, pyrolysis and gasification materials, and high purity recovered substances). For each CMC, it prescribes admissible input materials, processing conditions (including temperature–time profiles for composting, digestion, thermal oxidation, pyrolysis and gasification), separation and storage requirements, stability criteria, maximum contents of PAH16, PCDD/F, heavy metals and other contaminants, and, where relevant, pathogen limits and additional conditions for materials derived from animal by products. It also sets specific rules for chelating and complexing agents, inhibitor substances, polymers (including biodegradability and ecotoxicity tests for coatings and mulching films), and recovered high purity salts and minerals. Several provisions are scheduled to enter into force concurrently with future national procedures on conformity assessment, reference values for pharmacologically active substances and labelling requirements.