Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 laying down rules on the making available on the market of EU fertilising products and amending Regulations (EC) No 1069/2009 and (EC) No 1107/2009 and repealing Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003 (Text with EEA relevance) (c. 1009)

ANNEX I Product Function Categories (PFCs) of EU fertilising products

PART II REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO PFCS

PFC 3(A): ORGANIC SOIL IMPROVER

1. An organic soil improver shall consist of material 95 % of which is of solely biological origin.

An organic soil improver may contain peat, leonardite and lignite, but no other material which is fossilized or embedded in geological formations.

2. Contaminants in an organic soil improver must not exceed the following limit values:

(a) cadmium (Cd)

:

2 mg/kg dry matter,

(b) hexavalent chromium (Cr VI)

:

2 mg/kg dry matter,

(c) mercury (Hg)

:

1 mg/kg dry matter,

(d) nickel (Ni)

:

50 mg/kg dry matter,

(e) lead (Pb)

:

120 mg/kg dry matter, and

(f) inorganic arsenic (As)

:

40 mg/kg dry matter.

3. The copper (Cu) content in an organic soil improver must not exceed 300 mg/kg dry matter, and the zinc (Zn) content in an organic soil improver must not exceed 800 mg/kg dry matter.

4. Pathogens in an organic soil improver must not exceed the limits set out in the following table:

Micro-organisms to be tested	Sampling plans			Limit
	n	c	m	M
Salmonella spp.	5	0	0	Absence in 25 g or 25 ml
Escherichia coli or Enterococcaceae	5	5	0	1 000 in 1 g or 1 ml

Where:

n

=

number of samples to be tested,

c

=

number of samples where the number of bacteria expressed in CFU is between m and M,

m

=

threshold value for the number of bacteria expressed in CFU that is considered satisfactory,

M

=

maximum value of the number of bacteria expressed in CFU.

5. An organic soil improver shall contain 20 % or more dry matter.

6. Organic carbon (C_org) content in an organic soil improver shall be at least 7,5 % by mass.