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<p>The existing UK regulatory regime for the manufacture and placing of fertilisers
on the market in the UK is fragmented and in need of modernisation. There are currently
no specific requirements for plant biostimulants in domestic fertilisers legislation.
However, Defra intends to improve on this by consolidating and streamlining the statute
book and putting in place a conformity assessment framework for fertilisers. The framework
will smooth the route to market for new and innovative products which are less polluting
to the environment or are less resource intensive in their creation.</p><p>To support
reform of fertilisers legislation Defra has funded a review of the evidence for the
safe and effective use of plant biostimulants and a review of methods for evaluating
methods for verifying the efficacy of plant biostimulants.</p><p>The potential impact
of a chemical on plant health, including soil microbiomes is already considered, as
appropriate, as part of HSE’s robust risk assessment process for pesticides and for
biocides. In our regulatory programmes we do not assess the impacts of chemicals specifically
on human and animal microbiomes and are not currently considering the introduction
of such measures.</p>
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