Biostimulants may only be placed on the hungarian market if they have a beneficial effect on the soil or the cultivated plant supported by relevant effiacy tests, and - of course- if they do not cause any adverse effects on the plant, the soil, human and animal health, and do not pose an unacceptable risk to the environment and nature.

In contrast to other EU countries, Hungary allows for the placing on the market of so-callsed product families and maximum three commercial names are are allowed for a one specific product.

Biostimulants must be authorised before placing on the market and unlike other countries, in Hungary, you must ensure that your product evaluation is on the authorities plan, you can not just prepare a dossier and submit it; you have to inform the authorities first and make sure they can take you up in their planning.

Efficacy tests must only be carriedout by a testing site with a certification for Good Experimental Practice (GEP certification). Accredited tests carried out in other states that are parties to the EEA Agreement can be accepted if they were carried out in the south-eastern zone defined by document PP 1/241(1) of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO), which can be considered similar to Hungary from an agro-ecological point of view.

In the case of a biostimulant being made of or containing waste or by-products, the authorities will require additional tests depending on the type of waste and /or waste by-products.

Mutual Recognition from a different EU country is possible in Hungary, but here also, a request for Mutual Recognition must be submitted to the authorities. However, the adequacy of efficacy and other biological tests will be assessed and checked for their equivalence to Hungarian standards. Should the equivalence not be established, the Hungarian authorities may request completion and request the missing data.

Authorisations are valid for 10 years, with the possibility to renew the authorisation.

As concerning the use phase of biostimulants, these are subject to buffer zones next to surface waters (5 m from river banks and 20 m from shores or standing water). these distances might be modified upon request (and support with adequate data, that allow for a proper risk assessment) or from the authorities.

LIkewise, biostimulants may only be used in areas frequented by bees if the authorisation document expressly allows this.

Maximum heavy metal loads for non-microbial biostimulants are:

As: 10 mg/kg

Cd: 2 mg/kg

Co: 50 mg/kg

Cr: 100 mg/kg

Cu: 100 mg/kg

Hg: 1 mg/kg

Ni: 50 mg/kg

Pb: 100 mg/kg

Se: 5 mg/kg (for biostimulants contaning waste)

Other parameters to be measured include: total PAH (19 compounds), benzo(a)pyrene content, mineral oil content (TPH C5-C40), total PCB content, total PCDD/F extressed as WHO TEQs. Hygienic parameters are fecal coliform ctounr, fecal streptococcal count, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, salmonella sp. and Human parasitic helminth eggs.

Hungary also specifies a minimum font size to be used for the label !

Need help with your product for the Hungarian market?

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us !

It will be a pleasure to help.

The sciBASICS Team.