A series of new standards for the fertilizer industry are set to be introduced.

Release Date:

2019-05-08

Recently, the 2019 Symposium on Standardization for the Healthy Development of the Fertilizer Industry was held in Shanghai, hosted by the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners and organized by the journal “Fertilizer Industry.” At the conference, it was announced that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners, and other relevant authorities are currently reviewing, formulating, and introducing a series of new standards. These efforts aim to redefine the fertilizer industry’s development direction through top-level design and to build, at the source, a food safety and health‑oriented value chain. Xu Jingying, Deputy Director of the Fertilizer and Water‑Saving Division of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, stated that the ministry has already identified several research topics and, once conditions are ripe, will issue a series of measures related to…

Recently, the 2019 Symposium on Standardization for the Healthy Development of the Fertilizer Industry, hosted by the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners and organized by the journal “Fertilizer Industry,” was held in Shanghai. At the event, it was announced that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners, and other relevant authorities are currently reviewing, formulating, and introducing a series of new standards. These efforts aim to redefine the fertilizer industry’s development trajectory through top-level design and to build, at the source, a food safety and health‑oriented value chain.

Xu Jingying, Deputy Director of the Fertilizer and Water-Saving Division of the Department of Crop Production at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, stated that the ministry has currently identified several research topics and, once conditions are ripe, will introduce a series of new standards aimed at ensuring the safe and sustainable development of the fertilizer industry.

According to reports, the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners is currently developing or refining a series of industry standards, including “Limit Requirements for Toxic and Harmful Substances in Fertilizers” and “Green Product Evaluation for Fertilizers,” among others.

Mai Yongyi, vice president of the Shanghai Research Institute of Chemical Industry and chairperson of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners, explained that, having fulfilled its mission of ensuring food security, the fertilizer industry now must confront pressing issues related to food safety and public health—such as environmental pollution, soil degradation, and substandard agricultural product quality. “Building a robust standards system to safeguard public health at the source is a new challenge that the fertilizer sector must address,” Mai Yongyi said.

Shang Zhaocong, Executive Deputy Director of the National Fertilizer Quality Supervision and Inspection Center (Shanghai) and Secretary-General of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners, believes that the fertilizer industry is currently under pressure from declining application volumes and certain “demonizing” public narratives. He argues that it is imperative to focus on “health”—both in terms of human health and environmental sustainability—by leveraging a robust standards framework to guide and regulate practices, thereby ensuring the healthy operation of enterprises, the sustainable development of the industry, the integrity of the industrial chain, the safety of the food supply, and the well-being of life itself. In Shang Zhaocong’s view, fertilizers are now being entrusted with a new historical mission: whereas in the past their primary role was to meet quantitative demands for food production, today they must also address qualitative needs, helping to make food healthier.

Wei Jing, Director of the Quality Department of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation, stated that the current standardization efforts in the fertilizer industry should focus on two key pillars: high-quality development and green development. Green development has become a national strategy, and it is a task that the fertilizer sector must address. Moving forward, national, industry, and association standards for green products, green factories, and green industrial parks will be developed in a tiered approach to advance the establishment of a green manufacturing system across the sector.

Regarding soil conditioners, Chen Mingliang, deputy director of the Fertilizer Research Institute at the Shanghai Academy of Chemical Research and a senior engineer with professorial rank, believes that this sector has experienced vigorous growth in recent years. However, due to the wide variety of raw material sources, inconsistent process quality, and relatively low product‑level technology, there is an urgent need to establish more scientifically sound standards to regulate and guide its development.

Ms. Yang Yi of the National Technical Committee for Standardization of Fertilizers and Soil Conditioners stated that, in the future, the fertilizer standards system will be streamlined into four main components: national mandatory standards, which ensure safety and establish minimum requirements; recommended national standards, designed to support foundational and general‑purpose applications and to complement mandatory standards; industry standards, aimed at harmonizing sector‑specific requirements; and group standards, intended to meet market demands and foster innovation.

Regarding the optimization of standards, Xu Jingying believes that fertilizer standards currently fall into four main categories: general standards, product standards, testing standards, and safety standards. At present, there is an acute shortage of both general‑purpose standards and safety‑related standards.

Source: Rural Mass Newspaper

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