QUALITY
CURRENT STATUS OF BIOSTIMULANTS IN RELATION TO EUROPEAN LEGISLATION
Intra Radice S.L. is a microbiological service laboratory intended for the agroforestry sector. All of our activitiesconform with the new measures that are being applied in these sectors. Regulation (EU) 2019/109was the first to define functional categories for agricultural products, separating chemical fertilizers fromwhat are now called plant biostimulants. These are defined as a substance or microorganism applied to plants toenhance their efficiency in absorbing and assimilating nutrients, make them more tolerant to biotic and abiotic stress andimprove a particular agronomic characteristic, regardless of its nutrient content (Du Jardin, P. 2015. ‘Plant Biostimulants: Definition, Concept, Main Categories and Regulation’. Rev. Scientia Horticulturae, 196: 3-14).
Later, in June 2022 the European Commission adopted proposals for a new regulation on the sustainableuse of phytosanitary products. This was directly binding and uniformly applicable to all member states. It revises the existing regulations on the sustainable use of pesticides (Directive 2009/128/EC) to align them with the EU Green Deal, Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies. It includes the EU’s aim to reduce by 50% the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030. It also requires that new measures be adopted to guarantee that farmers and other professional users of pesticides practice integrated pest management, and prohibitsall pesticides in sensitive areas, like parks, gardens, playgrounds and so forth. This forms part of a package of measures to reduce the environmental footprint of the food system in the EU and mitigate the economic losses being sustained due to climate change and the loss of biodiversity,in additionto bad soil management.
In parallel, the official Spanish state gazette(BOE-A-2022-9260) published the Resolution of 1 June 2022 by the Directorate-General for Industry and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, which listed the European regulations ratified as Spanish standardsin May 2022: UNE-CEN/TS 17722:2022 on plant biostimulants and the determination of mycorrhizal fungi (endorsed by the Spanish Standards and Certification Association in May 2022).
In response to the need for accredited laboratories in these fields, on 9 September 2022, Intra Radice was grantedENAC accreditation (No. 1462/LE2721), makingour company – a leader in process integration and technology transfer – the first and only laboratory to be accredited by ENAC to carry out assays based on the quantification of mycorrhizalfungi in roots (mycorrhization rate) and the quantification of spores in mycorrhizal fungi-based biostimulants(spore number and viability).
Companies from many countries where these biostimulants are manufactured and sold will take advantage of this technological transition to determine and maintain the quality of the products, as well as to detect whether the selected fungi are duly established in the roots of crops during use.

Our premises:

Los Pinos 28,  Polígono Industrial “El Romeral” C.P. 18650 Dúrcal, Granada (Spain)
hola@intraradice.com
www.intraradice.com