Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1588. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his response to the increases in fertiliser prices. [42770/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware that fertiliser is a huge cost on most farms. There has been a sharp increase in fertiliser prices since the start of this year. The fertiliser market is largely driven by global supply and demand and, while there are a number of factors influencing fertiliser price, the major driving factors for the current increase in prices are increased global demand driven by strong growth in agricultural commodity prices, rising production costs due to increased raw material and energy costs, and issues with supply for certain fertiliser products.

No fertilisers are manufactured in Ireland, resulting in indigenous fertiliser companies being price-takers, dependent on global supply and demand and subject to Euro exchange rates against the US dollar and other currencies.

Many farmers purchased their fertiliser earlier this year compared to previous years and were not exposed to recent price increases. However, it is expected that farmers will experience the full effect of higher fertiliser prices for the coming season. Fertiliser prices are projected to remain robust into next year as production is increased in response to rising global demand coupled with higher costs of production. As a key input in the food production system, the Department will be closely monitoring how the fertiliser market develops in the months ahead.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1589. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will require fertiliser producers to provide expiry dates and batch numbers on fertiliser products for sale in the State. [42771/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The sale of fertiliser and lime in Ireland is regulated by both EU (Regulation (EC) No. 2003/2003) and Irish legislation (Statutory Instrument No. 248/1978). The majority of manufacturers of mineral fertiliser in Ireland market their products in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2003/2003. This Regulation ensures that fertiliser products are labelled accurately and meet minimum nutrient requirements. However, current EU and National fertiliser regulations do not require batch numbers and expiry dates to be included on fertiliser products labels.

A new EU Fertiliser Products Regulation (FPR) (Regulation (EU) 2019/1009) is coming into effect next year. Under the new FPR, manufacturers will be obliged to ensure that the packaging of EU fertilising products bears a type number or a batch number or any other element to allow their identification.

With regard to the inclusion of expiry dates, there is no requirement to include production or expiry dates for mineral fertiliser products under the FPR. However, the FPR puts in place a conformity assessment system to provide for quality assurance for fertiliser products that are available on the market. This conformity system will ensure that the necessary conformity assessment requirements and procedures have been successfully completed before products are made available and ensures conformity testing of products is performed in a reliable and reproducible manner.

The FPR will also require the Department to continue to carry out market surveillance activities to ensure that fertiliser products being made available on the market comply with the requirements of the Regulation.