Background

Inputs are materials which may be used in agriculture or food processing, such as fertilizers, soil conditioners, plant protection products, cleaning agents and disinfectants products for the control of animal parasites, feed materials, feed additives, food additives and food processing aids.

The Annexes to Commission Regulation (EU) 2021/1165 list the substances which may be used as inputs in EU organic production. Some producer associations or label organizations further restrict the use of inputs for their members by setting more stringent criteria. In addition, many categories of inputs (e.g. plant protection products) are also subject to national legislation and their registration is mandatory.

The European Input List is a database of commercial products which comply with the requirements of the regulation (EU) No 2021/1165. Only products which may legally be placed on the market in at least one EU member state or in Switzerland are included. 

The European Input List is published by FiBL Europe.

The European Input List is based on expert evaluation and long-standing scientific experience in the field of the assessment of inputs for organic production. Through the profound expertise of our technical experts we can provide a reliable and trustworthy tool respecting EU legislation as well as our FiBL evaluation criteria.

The different national partners involved are FiBL Germany, FiBL Switzerland and EASY-CERT Services (Austria).  

The European Input List benefits several parties: EU and national authorities and institutions, input manufacturers and distributors, control bodies and, most importantly, organic farmers.

Organic farmers

The European Input List is a robust, trustworthy, user-friendly and easily accessible tool for organic production. Organic farmers and processors can consult the European Input List in order to find information about products which comply with the rules for organic production and which have been transparently evaluated by the European Input List technical experts.

Authorities and control bodies

Besides providing support to organic farmers and processors, also national authorities and control bodies clearly take advantage of the European Input List as it provides the baseline for the input quality control system at no cost.

Organic input manufacturers and distributors

Manufacturers and traders of inputs for organic production have an interest in demonstrating that their products have been evaluated and found to comply with the organic production rules. The European Input List provides transparent information on compliant products. Furthermore, it provides a single entry point for organic input manufacturers to access different markets of European Union member states. 

The main features of the European Input List are:

• Transparency
• Expert evaluations
• Reliability
• Stakeholder participation

Farmers need a wide range of inputs, such as fertilizers, plant protection products, feed treatment material, etc. in order to keep their crops and animals healthy and to fulfil their needs optimally. The European organic farming sector is quickly developing, which is why an increasing number of inputs for organic agriculture is offered on the European market. Unlike organic food or feed, inputs for organic production are not subject to compulsory inspection and certification. It is not possible for a farmer to determine whether an input contains only authorized materials. The use of non-authorised materials poses a substantial risk for the individual organic farmer as well as for the organic sector as a whole.

The European Input List is based on expert evaluation and long-standing scientific experience in assessing inputs for organic agriculture. The European Input List certainly increases transparency and improves the reliability in terms of inputs to be used legally in the organic production.