Copa-Cogeca, the EU farm and agricultural co-operative organisation, has said that proposed EU sanctions on fertiliser from Russia and Belarus will “severely impact” agricultural production and competitiveness.
Copa, of which the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is a member group, said that without a “clear diversification strategy” to offset the sanctions on Russian fertiliser, EU farmers will “soon find themselves up against the wall”.
“For years, Europe has struggled with a fertiliser production insufficient to meet demand, making imports unavoidable. This situation has only worsened following the closure of several fertiliser plants across EU member states,” Copa said.
Copa also said that the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which is a tariff on carbon intensive products, will also further increase costs for both domestic production and third-country suppliers entering the EU market.
“While we understand the legitimacy of the geopolitical reasons driving the commission to act, the agricultural sector must face the economic consequences of these decisions,” the farm organisation said.
According to Copa, EU farmers have no guarantees that the fertiliser shortfall will be offset by increased production at competitive prices.
The organisation claimed that the proposed sanctions will drive up fertiliser prices by at least €40-45 per tonne for the next cropping season.
“This would place additional financial pressure on farming operations already grappling with a highly challenging economic climate. The consequences for agricultural production, competitiveness, and farmers’ income could be catastrophic.
“The commission’s proposal falls short in many respects for EU farming communities, whether in relation to the very high tariffs to be applied from July 2025; the gradual approach to sanctions; or the proposed temporary suspensions based on 2024 prices, which were already higher than the pre-war level,” Copa said.
The group is also concerned over the fact that that the commission’s proposal includes no medium- or long-term measures to “offer prospects for the sector”.
As well as calling for the diversification of fertiliser supply sources to offset the impact of the sanctions, Copa is also calling for the following measures:
- Removal of anti-dumping duties on imports of urea, ammonium nitrate and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) from the US and Trinidad and Tobago;
- Suspension of conventional duties on imports of urea; UAN; diammonium phosphate (DAP); monoammonium phosphate (MAP); and nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) fertilisers;
- Granting of derogations under the Nitrates Directive to allow the use of processed livestock effluent (recovered nitrogen from manure and certain digestates) beyond the current limit of 170kg of N per hectare.
“Copa…urges the member states and the European Parliament to address this issue swiftly. We also count on the new agriculture commissioner, Christophe Hansen, to quickly step up on this issue to find concrete solutions to avoid what may already be shaping up as new agricultural crises,” the farm organisation said.