TFI testing data receives international approval

Washington, D.C.-The Fertilizer Institute announced last week that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has approved product testing data on nitrate and sulfate products generated by TFI and the European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association (EFMA) for inclusion in an international database of chemicals. TFI said acceptance of the data by the OECD provides further credibility to efforts to demonstrate with scientific data that fertilizer products are safe. The nitrates category consists of sodium nitrate, potassium nitrate, potassium sodium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, calcium nitrate, calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), and nitrogen solutions (UAN), while the sulfates category contains potassium magnesium sulfate, calcium sulfate, and potassium sulfate. “TFI completed its product testing program on 23 fertilizer materials in early 2003, demonstrating that all major fertilizer products are safe when used as intended and pose no harm to industry workers, community members or the environment,” said TFI President Ford B. West. “We are pleased with the OECD’s approval of our nitrate and sulfate products, which now join our phosphates and ammonia groups with this much-deserved international approval.” The U.S. is the sponsor country for fertilizer products within the OECD process, and EPA served as the formal presenter for the data at a recent OECD meeting in Helsinki. TFI said the OECD decision also confers regulatory approval through EPA’s High Production Volume (HPV) data challenge, and covers many of the important data points necessary in the EU’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program. “International approval for this safety data is an essential next step given the globalization of the fertilizer industry and the increased efforts on the worldwide regulation of chemicals,” West said. The phosphate and ammonia groups of fertilizer data were reviewed and accepted for OECD review in early November, and fertilizer acids are scheduled for review in April 2008 in Paris, France.