European Parliament backs invoice that can enact duties in July and regularly enhance them over three years.
The European Parliament has voted to impose tariffs on fertiliser and sure farm produce imports from Russia and its ally Belarus, regardless of European farmers’ fears that the transfer may result in greater costs.
The European Parliament on Thursday voted 411 to 100 in assist of the invoice that can enact duties in July and regularly enhance them to a degree the place they’d make imports unviable in 2028.
In 2023, greater than 70 p.c of EU fertiliser consumption was of nitrogen-based fertiliser, of which Russia accounted for 25 p.c of EU imports price about 1.3bn euros ($1.5bn).
In keeping with the bloc, the tariffs for sure fertilisers will enhance over three years from 6.5 p.c to an quantity equal to about one hundred pc, successfully halting commerce by 2028.
For farm produce, a further 50 p.c responsibility will apply.
Whereas Russia and Belarus have been hit with prohibitive tariffs final 12 months over the warfare in Ukraine, the brand new measures will apply to fifteen p.c of agriculture imports from Russia that weren’t beforehand hit, together with meat, dairy produce, fruit and greens.
EU lawmaker Inese Vaidere, spearheading the push for elevated tariffs, mentioned the bloc should cease fuelling “the Russian warfare machine” and “restrict the dependency of Europe’s farmers to Russian fertilisers”.
Member states nonetheless should formally give the invoice their ultimate approval, having already supported the concept.
Russia mentioned on Thursday that the tariffs would trigger fertiliser costs within the EU to rise.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov mentioned that demand for Russian nitrogen fertilisers on different export routes remained excessive, including that Russian fertilisers have been of the very best high quality.
Farmers’ fears
The pan-European farmers’ group Copa-Cogeca advised the AFP information company that utilizing Russian fertilisers was the “best by way of value, as a result of well-established logistics”.
The tariff may very well be “probably devastating” for the agriculture sector, the group warned, including, “European farmers should not grow to be collateral harm”.
A farmer in Belgium accused the EU of injuring its farmers.
Amaury Poncelet advised AFP that he “doesn’t perceive the European Union’s thought of punishing its farmers”.
“We’re dropping cash due to these European selections that deal with us like pawns who don’t matter,” he mentioned.
The European Fee has argued the tariffs will assist assist home manufacturing and advised duties on imports from different areas may very well be eliminated to alleviate value pressures, amongst different mitigating measures, in case of value shocks.
