News » Report on animal manure management in the Baltic Sea region

This report on animal manure management in the Baltic Region aims

• to screen differences in national manure management regulations/legislation
• to address the need for developingcommon and harmonized regulations, guidelines and rules for efficientuse of manure, with a view to minimize overfertilization in the BalticSea Region, and
• to support equal competitiveness in the sector.

The report also show problems,challenges and opportunities of animal fertilizers management fromdifferent countries? perspective, underlining different approaches tothe issue in different parts of the Baltic Sea region (BSR).Additionally, an overview of good national examples illustratedapplicability of best practices.

Industrial animal farming is becoming atrend both globally, as well as regionally within the BSR, withconstantly growing numbers and production capacity of facilities forintensive rearing of cattle, poultry and pigs. Without well-developedand implemented manure management practices such facilities may posesignificant threat to the Baltic Sea. This has been pointed out by CCBin a series of reports addressing Industrial Animal Farming within BSR,and in consecutive submissions of relevant proposals to regional(HELCOM) and EU (European Commission) environmental policy-makingbodies.

One of the observed differences innational manure management is related to approaches in EU and non-EUcountries, where the latter is represented here by Belarus which stillfollows rather outdated practices and schemes. However, even within EUcountries, implementation and interpretation of manure managementrequirements stemming e.g. from EU Water Framework Directive, NitratesDirective, Industrial Emissions Directive, etc. varies from country tocountry. Differences are partly connected to differences in nationaldesignation of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ), where stricterrequirements should be applied. In cases where the whole country isdesignated as NVZ (Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Finland), the stricterregulations apply to the entire national territory, which creates acompetitive disadvantage for farmers in those countries in comparison totheir neighbours.

Taking into account regionaldifferences within the Baltic Sea region, implementation of commonmanure management requirements stemming from HELCOM BSAP (2007) and its follow-up (Ministerial Declarations from 2010 and 2013) becomes even more vital and actual. These include both legally-binding provisions of the revised part II of Annex III of the Helsinki Convention (1992), as well as a voluntary ?Palette? of measures for reducing phosphorus and nitrogen losses from agriculture (also updated in 2013).

In general, environmental education andpublic awareness on potential environmental impacts of mismanagement ofmanure resources as well as opportunities resulting from utilisation ofits nutrient value is very important and should be supported at alllevels. CCB will continue its work to advocate the followingrecommendations:

• at policy level ? to follow up on the agreed international agreements and commitments,
• at farm level ? to promote and help in implementing those commitments,
• at community level ? to raise awareness on the need for sustainable agriculture within the Baltic Sea Region.

To download the report visit www.ccb.se/publications/report-on-animal-manure-management-in-the-baltic-sea-region.

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