Obligations of economic operators providing a digital label

1. Economic operators providing a digital label shall not track, analyse or use any usage information for purposes other than what is absolutely necessary for providing the relevant information digitally.

2. At the request of end-users and independently of a purchase, or without such a request where the digital label is temporarily unavailable at the time of purchase, economic operators making EU fertilising products available to such end-users on the market shall provide the information included on the digital label by alternative means and free of charge;

3. Where EU fertilising products are made available on the market with a digital label in accordance with Article 11a(4), point (a), the economic operator supplying them to end-users shall post the labelling information referred to in Article 11b(1) in a visible place at the point of sale.’

in Article 42, the following paragraphs are added:

‘9. By 1 May 2027, the Commission shall adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 44 to supplement Articles 11b and 11c by laying down specific requirements for the digital labelling of EU fertilising products and conditions for fulfilling the obligations of economic operators providing a digital label. Those requirements shall establish, in particular, the types of electronic technical solutions which economic operators can use for providing the digital label, and the alternative means for providing the information referred to in Article 11c(2). When adopting the delegated acts, the Commission shall:

ensure consistency with other relevant Union acts;

encourage innovation and the use of state-of-the-art technology;

ensure technological neutrality by not limiting the choice of technology or equipment, within the bounds of compatibility and interference avoidance;

ensure that the digital labelling does not compromise the safety of the end-user and the environment;

ensure that any modification of the digital label does not compromise the ability of market surveillance authorities to verify the content of the label which existed prior to that modification;

take into account the level of digital readiness among end-users of EU fertilising products;

take into account the requirement set out in this Regulation to provide the information for a period of 10 years from the date that the EU fertilising product was placed on the market;

take into consideration the enhancement of the free movement of EU fertilising products in the internal market;

take into consideration the needs and the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises to comply with such requirements.

10. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 44 to amend Annex III, as regards the labelling information which economic operators choose to provide on a digital label only in accordance with the derogation set out in Article 11a(3), second subparagraph, in order to adapt that Annex to technical and scientific progress or to the level of digital readiness among end-users of EU fertilising products. When adopting those delegated acts, the Commission shall take into account the need to ensure safety and a high level of protection of human, animal and plant health and the environment.’

the following article is inserted:

REGULATION (EU) 2024/2516 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 18 September 2024 amending Regulation (EU) 2019/1009 as regards the digital labelling of EU fertilising products ANNEX I ANNEX II