COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGUL ATION (EU) 2020/106 
of 23 Januar y 2020 
concer ning the author isation of sodium formate as a feed additiv e for all animal species 
(Text with EEA relevance) 
THE EUR OPEAN COMMISSION, 
Havi ng regar d to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 
Havi ng rega rd to Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 Sept ember 2003 on 
additives for use in animal nutr ition (1), and in particular Article 9(2) thereof, 
Whereas: 
(1) Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 provid es for the author isation of additives for use in animal nutr ition and for the 
grounds and procedures for granting such author isation. 
(2) In accordance with Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 an application was submitted for the author isation 
of sodium formate. That application was accompan ied by the particulars and documents required under Article 7 
(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003. 
(3) The application concer ns the author isation of sodium formate as a feed additive for all animal species to be classified 
in the cate gory ‘technological additives’. 
(4) The European Food Safety Authority (‘the Author ity’) concluded in its opinions of 30 Apr il 2015 (2) and 
26 Febr uary 2019 (3) that, under the proposed conditions of use, the sodium formate does not have an adverse 
effect on animal health, consumer safety or the envi ronment. It also concluded that the substance is mildly irritating 
to eyes and a skin sensitiser . In addition, given that the exposure to sodium formate via inhalation is considered to 
present a risk to unprotect ed workers handling the additive, it is prudent to consider it as a respirator y irritant. 
Theref ore, the Commission considers that appropr iate prote ctive measures should be take n to prevent adverse 
effects on human health, in particular as regar ds to users of the additive. The Authority also concluded that sodium 
formate liquid has the potential to be effic acious as hygiene condition enhancer in feedingstuffs. The Author ity does 
not consider that there is a need for specific requirements of post-market monitori ng. It also verified the repor t on 
the methods of analysis of the feed additive in feed submitted by the Reference Laboratory set up by Regulation (EC) 
No 1831/2003. 
(5) The assessment of sodium formate shows that the conditions for author isation, as provided for in Article 5 of 
Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003, are satisfied. According ly, the use of sodium formate should be author ised as 
specifi ed in the Annex to this Regulation. 
(6) The measures provid ed for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committ ee on 
Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGUL ATION: 
Article 1 
Author isation 
The substance specifi ed in the Annex, belonging to the additive cate gory ‘technological additives ’ and to the functional 
group ‘hygiene condition enhancers ’, is author ised as an additive in animal nutr ition, subject to the conditions laid down 
in that Annex. 
(1)OJ L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 29. 
(2)EFSA Journal 2015; 13(5):4113. 
(3)EFSA Journal 2019; 17(3):5645. EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 24.1.2020                                                                                                                                           L 19/15   Article 2 
Entr y into force 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day followi ng that of its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Union. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 23 Januar y 2020.  
For the Commission 
The President 
Ursula VON DER LEYEN     EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union L 19/16                                                                                                                                           24.1.2020   ANNEX 
Identification 
number of 
the additive Additive Chemical formula, descr iption, 
methods of analysis Species or 
categor y of 
animal Maximum age Minimum 
conten t Maximum content 
Other provisions End of period of 
author isation mg of formic acid/kg of complet e 
feedingstuff with a moisture conten t 
of 12 % 
Technological additiv es: hygiene condition enhancers 
1k237 Sodium formate Additive composition 
Liquid form 
≥ 15 % sodium formate 
≤ 75 % formic acid 
≤ 25 % water All animal 
species ex­
cept pigs — — 10 000 
(formic acid 
equivalent) 1. In the directions for use of the 
additive and premixture, the 
stora ge conditions shall be indi­
cated . 
2. The mixture of different sources 
of formic acid shall not exceed 
the permitte d maximum con­
tent in compl ete feedingstuffs. 
3. For users of the additive and 
premixtures, feed business op­
erators shall establish opera­
tional procedures and organisa­
tional measures to address 
poten tial risks resulting from 
its use. Where those risks can­
not be eliminated or reduced to 
a minimum by such procedures 
and measures, the additive and 
premixtures shall be used with 
personal prot ective equipment, 
including breathing protection, 
safety glasses and gloves . 13 Febr uary 2030 
Char acter isation of the activ e substance 
Sodium formate ≥ 15 % (liquid 
form) Formic acid ≤ 75 % 
Produced by chemical synthesis Pigs — — 12 000 
(formic acid 
equivalent) 
Analytical method (1) 
Determination of sodium in feed 
additives: EN ISO 6869: atomi c ab­
sorption spectrometr y (AAS) or EN 
15510: inductively coupled plasma 
atomi c emission spectrometr y, 
(ICP -AES). 
Determination of total formate in 
feed additives: EN 15909 reverse 
phase HPLC with UV detection 
(RP-HPL C-UV). 
Determination of total formate in 
premixtures and feedingstuffs: Ion- 
excl usion high performa nce liquid 
chromatograph y with UV or with 
refractive index detection (HPL C- 
UV/RI) or Ion chromat ography 
method equipped with electr ical 
conductivity detection (IC-ECD). 
(1) Details of the analytical methods are avail able at the follo wing address of the Reference Laboratory : https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/eurl/feed-additives/evaluation-repor ts   EN Offi cial Jour nal of the European Union 24.1.2020                                                                                                                                           L 19/17   