With immediate effect, Olmix Plant Care has obtained certification for the marketing of its products affected by the new EU regulation 2019/1009 on fertilisers and biostimulants.
The Group was involved very early in the analysis of the impact of the requirements of this change in Community regulations and is one of the first companies to obtain certification at European level.
Europe, a major challenge for Olmix Plant Care
“This is excellent news,” says Catherine Lamboley, Director of the Olmix Plant Care Business Unit. “Europe is Olmix Plant Care’s main market to date and obtaining this certification underlines to our European customers both our development ambitions and our ability to achieve them, by providing innovative and qualitative solutions for the agro-ecological transition.” This recognition of the quality of Olmix’s processes also strengthens the Group’s assets in the export market, as the European standard is also considered a reference on globally.
Certification and CE marking: a renewed guarantee of product quality, traceability and consistency
Issued following an audit by the notified body CerTrust, this certification guarantees customers that the rules and processes applied within the Group comply with the standards required by the regulation. Fabien Le Corronc, Olmix’s Quality, Safety and Environment Manager, looks back on the certification process: “We got involved very early in the process of bringing our quality assurance system into compliance and chose to contract quickly with one of the three notified bodies available at the time, in order to carry out the audits before the date of application of the regulation. Obtaining certification validates our commitment to quality and the methods we have put in place to ensure it.”
The choice of certification for industrial sites
Faced with the various possibilities offered by the new regulation, Olmix chose the one framed by module D1 (certification of the quality assurance system for manufacturing processes) for three of its industrial sites: those of Bréhan in Morbihan and Langar in the United Kingdom. “It was a choice dictated by our development strategy,” explains Rozenn Nevot, EMEA Regulatory Affairs Manager for Olmix’s Plant Care business. “Obtaining this certification gives us more flexibility and possibilities because it allows us to market, with CE marking, all the product categories (PFC – Product Function Categories) contained in its scope.”
A gradual increase in power
The two industrial sites at Bréhan have already received CerTrust certification. This first step will soon be followed by the certification of the Langar plant in the UK. As for the fourth unit located in Rogat in the Netherlands and essentially dedicated to organo-mineral formulations, Olmix is waiting for the publication of the regulatory provisions governing the use of animal by-products, which should be published at the latest at the beginning of 2023. In the meantime, the products will continue to be marketed according to the national standards of each country.