Regulations requiring fertiliser companies to report on the sales of nitrogenous fertiliser

Under development
This regulation is not finalised or in effect.

The Government is to regulate the reporting of sales of nitrogen fertiliser by fertiliser companies.

Lead agency

MfE

Status

As part of the Essential Freshwater new rules and regulations the Government is introducing:

  • regulations for freshwater farm plans
  • regulations requiring fertiliser companies to report on the sales of nitrogenous fertiliser.

Essential Freshwater new rules and regulations

About the upcoming regulations

The regulations are part of a package of changes necessary to mitigate the effect of nitrogen on our waterways. High nitrogen-levels in rivers are associated with adverse effects on the ecological health of waterways.

The main purpose of the regulations will be to help understand if new rules for fertiliser use are having an impact, so that we can make changes in the future if needed.

Officials will work with fertiliser companies and sector groups to ensure the regulations provide the information required to identify trends in fertiliser use while respecting the privacy of those involved.

The regulations are additional to the requirement for dairy farmers to report synthetic nitrogen fertiliser use, announced as part of the Essential Freshwater policy package.

See also Reducing excessively high nitrogen leaching – Addendum to Chapter 15 of Action for healthy waterways regulatory impact analysis [PDF, 1.07 MB]