Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am aware that fertiliser costs comprise a significant area of expenditure on Irish farms. I strongly believe the elimination of fertiliser tariffs and anti-dumping duties could help farmers to reduce their input costs.  According to EUROSTAT, fertiliser is the third most important expenditure item on EU farms, accounting for €19.2 billion of expenditure in 2014. Fertiliser prices have increased significantly in recent years, partly due to the protection provided by the imposition of duties on non-EU imports. Opportunities to manage price risk through hedging mechanisms have also been limited. In February 2016, the International Food and Policy Research Institute published a report on the effects of import duty elimination on competition in the EU fertiliser market. The report concluded that the protection afforded to EU manufacturers by the application of anti-dumping duties and customs tariffs is costing farmers up to €1 billion per annum.

Against this background, I asked the Commission to consider a temporary suspension of customs tariffs and anti-dumping duties on fertilisers in the lead-up to the March 2016 meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council. I actively pursued this issue at Council level throughout 2016 with the Commission and in consultation with Council colleagues.  I raised the issue again at the January 2017 meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council, when I asked the Commission to address the significant overpricing of fertilisers in the EU brought about by the imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports. Commissioner Hogan acknowledged the desirability of bringing about lower prices but indicated that it was proving difficult to achieve, despite considerable efforts on his part with other member states and internally within the Commission.

The 2016 payments under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, represent the first full year of payments under the scheme.  They are being paid in weekly instalment runs as issues with outstanding GLAS cases are resolved. Further payments are issuing on a weekly basis, with payments valued at over €110 million now having been issued. Over 84% of participants have now been paid.  All GLAS applications must pass regulatory controls and validations, as is the case with all EU co-funded schemes. The outstanding cases are being reviewed on a case-by-case basis to resolve the individual issues in each instance.

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