• 6 product standards, 4 quality inspection methods and 2 classification criteria will be adopted for the market surveillance of humic fertilizers, compounded fertilizers, urea, calcium superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, liquid ammonia, fulvic acids for agricultural use and stabilized fertilizers(synergized fertilizers);

• Fertilizers subject to registration management have to comply with multiple standards, particularly the agricultural standards issued by the MoARR/MoA, which serve as important determinants and judging tools for registration review.

• For novel fertilizers or other products which do not have an established national/industrial product standard a full understanding of the applicable scope and technical requirements in other existing standards can also contribute to dossier preparation and increase the chance of registration

• For novel fertilizers or other products which do not have an established national/industrial product standard a full understanding of the applicable scope and technical requirements in other existing standards can also contribute to dossier preparation and increase the chance of registration

On 1 Jul 2018, China will implement 12 new national standards for market surveillance of fertilizer products, including 6 product standards, 4 quality inspection methods and 2 classification criteria for humic fertilizers, compounded fertilizers, urea, calcium superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, liquid ammonia, fulvic acids for agricultural use and stabilized fertilizers (synergized fertilizers).

These standards were approved by the former AQSIQ and the Standardization Administration earlier this year, of which 6 were substitutions for existing standards. Compared to the previous standards, the main technical changes are summarizes as follows:

• UREA: The total number of grades used to grade urea fertilizers has been changed from 3 grades (premium grade, first grade and qualified grade) to 2 grade (premium grade and qualified grade). The minimal content of total nitrogen in qualified-grade urea has been reduced from 46% to 45% and maximum water content on premium-grade urea has been elevated from 0.4% to 0.5%. All urea product should be labeled with the warning “This product contains biuret and improper use may cause may cause crop injury”.

• POTASSIUM SULFATE FOR AGRICULTURAL USE- Potassium sulfate fertilizers produced through water-salt and non-water-salt methods used to be treated with different indicators, which were finally unified in the new standard. Testing of sulfur content has been additionally required

• CALCIUM SUPERPHOSPHATE-additional requirement on the testing of mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead, chromium POPs and chloral;

• DETERMINATION OF AVAILABLE PHOSPHORUS IN COMPOUNDED FERTILIZERS- Ultrasonic extraction, citric-acid ultrasonic extraction and plasma emission spectrum were added to determinate the soluble phosphorus and available phosphorus

4 of the new standards relate to the testing, classification and definition of humic fertilizers. Testing method of PAE plasticizers will be adopted for the quality inspection of compounded fertilizer, organic fertilizers, slow-released fertilizers and other NPK fertilizers. MIIT has also compiled a chemical standard for stabilized fertilizers, HG/T4135-2010. Compared with MIIT standard, GB/T35113-2017 reflects significant change in measuring, parameters and methods.

In the past multiple authorities were tasked with developing standards and regulations for different links in the agricultural and industrial fertilizers lifecycle, many of these standards overlapped or mandated criteria which were often inconsistent for the same product (quality indicator) between the two standards issued by the different authorities. Fertilizers subject to registration management have to comply with multiple standards, particularly the agricultural standards issued by the MoARR/MoA, which serve as important determinants and judging tools for registration review.

Reference Link

AgroPedia: Overview of Fertilizer Registration in China