Norway

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has proposed a new regulation concerning the production and marketing of fertilizing products. It provides rules for safe fertilizer production and is adapted to changes that have taken place in the marked regarding increased interest in the use of waste and by-products in the production of fertilizers.The proposal introduces the following amendments:The requirements for hygienization and stabilization are clarified, and the indicator organism thermotolerant coliform bacteria is changed to E. coliA limit value has been added for arsenic;The table of raw materials and raw material categories that can be used in fertilizer production has been updated (appendix 1) and a new system with applications for the use of other types of raw materials that are not listed in the table is being introduced;The registration obligation changes from a requirement for product registration to a requirement for business registration;Labelling requirements that earlier were included in a standard are now in the regulation;Both organic and inorganic biostimulants are covered by the new regulation, and they are more clearly distinguished from pesticides;There is a new paragraph concerning products traded under the agreement of mutual recognition in the EEA.

Temporary movements to Norway of consignments of honeybees is forbidden without prior authorisation by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. This measure aims to prevent the introduction and spread of Erwinia amylovora (Burrill) Winslow et.al.

The regulation introduces the following requirements for hay and straw imported into Norway: - Hay and straw must be accompanied by a declaration from the producer that the hay/straw was stored for at least two months before export; - Hay and straw from USA and Canada must be accompanied by attestation from an official veterinarian certifying that the product was harvested in a state or province where Chronic Wasting Disease has not been detected. >The regulation also includes requirements (that have been in place since 2001) for hay and straw from another Norwegian regulation in order to ensure that the additional requirements for hay and straw are in one regulation. These requirements are: - Hay and straw must be accompanied by a declaration from the producer that the product was harvested from farms where manure has not been used as fertilizer for the past two years; - Hay and straw must also be accompanied by an attestation from an official veterinarian certifying that the product was harvested from a farm where there are no restrictions because of contagious animal disease.

The draft amendments to the annexes 3 and 4A to Regulations relating to plants and measures against pests are intended to:- Related to plants intended for planting of Malus and Pyrus: Extended access to import of rootstocks of other species of Malus than Malus domestica Borkh (edible fruit) and other species of Pyrus than Pyrus communis L. (edible fruit) from countries where fireblight (Erwinia amylovora) occurs, when specified requirements in Annex 4A No. 38 are fulfilled. - Related to wood of Fraxinus: Wood originating or processed in Canada may be imported based on an option consisting of set of combined requirements, set out in Annex 4A No 39 Alternative 4

The proposal amends the Regulations relating to alien organisms, which were notified on 28 July 2014 in G/SPS/N/NOR/33. The amendments entail that the current prohibition against imports of live American lobsters (Homarus Americanus) is replaced by the general requirement in the Regulations for a permit on strict conditions. The prohibitions in the Regulations against the placing on the market and release of live American lobsters will remain in place. The proposal also includes an amendment to the exemption provision in Section 31, which largely entails that only one of the two preconditions for exemption must be fulfilled in order for an exemption to be granted, rather than both, as is the case at present.