What is a claim?

Plant biostimulants are defined by their function. In order to ensure trust and reputability, and to ensure that products do what they say, FPR requires that Plant Biostimulants have defined sets of claims on the label - which must subsequently be proven. 

How to prove them is defined in the CEN TS 17700-1

FPR defines the following as a Plant Biostimulant and its claim: 

1. A plant biostimulant shall be an EU fertilising product the function of which is to stimulate plant nutrition processes independently of the product’s nutrient content with the sole aim of improving one or more of the following characteristics of the plant or the plant rhizosphere:

(a) 

nutrient use efficiency,

(b) 

tolerance to abiotic stress,

(c) 

quality traits, or

(d) 

availability of confined nutrients in the soil or rhizosphere.

And indeed, the FPR requires that a Plant Biostimulant includes in the label the "effect claimed for each target plant". 

Within the CEN TS 17700 series there is guidance provided on how to formulate claims, how to write them, and the number of trials needed to perform to claim effects for specific crops, crop groups or to be able to make a claim for all crops. 

The number of trials required for each type of claim is below as per CEN TS 17700-1. Per claim you must have this many trials for that specific claim (ie NUE and quality traits) before you can claim it on the label: 

* see CEN TS 17700-1 for details

** (see CEN TS 17700-1, there are 3 crop groups namely Broadacre, Vegetables ornamentals and AMP crops, and Woody Perennials)

You can also have claims for soil effects, which also require a defined number of trials - see CEN TS 17700-1 for those.