HELCOM RECOMMENDATION 24/3

Superseding, together with requirements in Annex III of the Convention, HELCOM Recommendations 7/2, 13/7 (except Annex),13/9, 13/10, 13/11 and 14/4

Adopted 25 June 2003 having regard to Article 20, Paragraph 1 b) of the Helsinki Convention

MEASURES AIMED AT THE REDUCTION OF EMISSIONS AND DISCHARGES FROM AGRICULTURE

THE COMMISSION,

RECALLING of Article 6 of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992 (Helsinki Convention), in which the Contracting Parties undertake to take all appropriate measures to control and minimize land‑based pollution of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea Area,

HAVING REGARD also to Article 3 of the Helsinki Convention, in which the Contracting Parties undertake individually or jointly to take all appropriate legislative, administrative or other relevant measures to prevent and abate pollution,

RECALLING FURTHER the Ministerial Declaration of 1988, the Baltic Sea Declaration of 1990 and the Baltic Sea Environmental Declaration of 1992, calling, inter alia, for a substantive reduction of the inputs caused by diffuse sources,

RECALLING FURTHER that this recommendation supplements Annex III of the Helsinki Convention concerning regulations on prevention of pollution from agriculture,

RECOGNIZING the fact that a substantial part of the eutrophication problems observed in the Baltic Sea Area are caused by nutrient inputs from diffuse sources,

CONSCIOUS that agricultural activities within the Baltic Sea catchment are responsible, inter alia, for pollution of water and air by nitrogen, phosphorus and plant protection products, causing negative effects on the Baltic Sea ecosystem including eutrophication, oxygen depletion and reduced biological diversity,

AIMING at a reduction of this pollution,

RECOMMENDS to the Governments of the Contracting Parties to the Helsinki Convention that:

1)      Ammonia volatilisation from animal housing

a.      in order to reduce  ammonia emissions from animal husbandry,

-           a surplus of nitrogen in the manure should be avoided by adjusting the composition of the diet to the requirements of the individual animal;

-           in  poultry production emissions should be brought down by reducing the moisture content of the manure or by removal of manure to storage outside the housing system as soon as possible;

b.      programmes including strategies and measures for reducing ammonia volatilization from animal husbandry are developed;

2)      Manure handling

c.      storages should be constructed to safeguard against unintentional spillages;

         -    solid manure should be stored in dung yards with watertight floor and side walls;

         -   manure effluents should be drained off through outlet pipes and collected in liquid manure storages;

d.      containers for the storage of liquid manure and farm waste should be made of strong material impermeable to moisture and to resist the impact of manure handling  operations;

e.      animal manure should be used in such a way that as high utilization efficiency as possible is promoted;

f.        co-operation between farmers in the use of manure has to be encouraged;

g.      studies on nutrient contents of animal manures and the related conversion factors to animal units should be promoted;

3)      Agricultural waste water handling

h.      farm animal houses and similar enclosures for animals is designed in such a way that ground and surface water will not be polluted;

i.         programmes including strategies and measures for reducing discharges from agriculture household wastewater and cleaning of  equipment are developed;

4)      Reduction of soil erosion

j.         conservation tillage techniques to reduce soil erosion should be promoted,

RECOMMENDS FURTHER that the actions taken by the Contracting Parties should be reported to the Commission in 2006 and thereafter every three years.

Appendix to HELCOM Recommendation 13/7

CONVERSION FACTORS FOR CALCULATING ANIMAL UNITS (A.U.)