Close supervision of manure disposal in Germany

In the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, strict monitoring is carried out to ensure that the manure from the Netherlands complies with the regulations. To this end, there is intensive cooperation with various Dutch authorities.

Ursula Heinen-Esser, the environment minister in North Rhine-Westphalia, informed the German media that strict supervision is being given to manure from the Netherlands that crosses the border. The Dutch export documents form the basis for the checks.

For manure export to Germany, exporters must register once with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl). During the transport, there must also be proof of delivery, the so-called Animal Fertilizer Transport Certificate (VDM).

Hundreds of fines in 2016
The Dutch and German data are placed side by side and compared. The minister reports that in 2018 approximately 1.300 companies in the federal state were registered as recipients of manure from the Netherlands. These companies are tested on 3 criteria, including whether the companies have made a delivery notification in advance and whether the company has enough placement room is.

Last year, some 2.500 companies were inspected, more than half of which were on location. The documents were not in order in more than 600 cases. In 2016, a total of 476 fines were imposed, with a combined value of almost €500.000.

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is editor-in-chief of Boerenbusiness. He also focuses on dairy, pig and meat markets. He also follows (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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