The European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association, Fertilizers Europe (FE), has recently published a press release stating that it welcomes and fully supports the initiatives of several Member States to call for the introduction of tariffs on Russian and Belarusian fertilizers. According to FE, urgent action is also needed to prevent Russian fertilizers from financing the invasion of Ukraine and to ensure the EU's strategic autonomy in food and fertilizer production.

At the EU Trade Council meeting on 21 November, Poland, together with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, called on the European Commission (EC) to take decisive action on the increase in imports of Russian and Belarusian fertilisers into the EU. In parallel, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland asked the EC to increase tariffs on EU imports of Russian and Belarusian products, including fertilisers.

According to Antoine Hoxha, Director General of FE, Europe is becoming more and more dependent on Russian and Belarusian fertiliser imports every month (+117% increase in urea imports from Russia between 2020/21 and 2023/24), and this increase is not only a threat to Europe’s agricultural sovereignty, by destabilising its fertiliser industry, but also to the environmental goals we strive to achieve. The main fertilisers produced in the EU are, on average, 50-60% less carbon-intensive than Russian ones.




Link to Fertilizers Europe press release: https://www.fertilizerseurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Fertilizers-Europe_Press-Release_Tariffs-on-Russian-imports_25.11.2024.pdf