Watch: Heydon warns on fertiliser price pressures
Fertiliser "availability and affordability" will be high on the agenda today at a high level EU meeting of government ministers today (Tuesday, May 26).
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon is attending the AgriFish Council in Brussels today which will bring together ministers from all EU member states who are responsible for agriculture.
Last week, the European Commission adopted a new Fertiliser Action Plan, which it said is "an initiative to support farmers facing rising fertiliser costs and scarcity, reinforce domestic production and reduce Europe's dependency on imports".
Fertiliser prices
Following this, the Council of the EU confirmed it will suspend customs tariffs on key nitrogen-based fertilisers for one year.
The move could see €60 million slashed off import duties on crucial fertiliser inputs including urea and ammonia.
Ahead of the meeting today, Minister Heydon said: "The rise in fertiliser prices as a result of the Middle East crisis will impact on the cost of food production and, consequently, on the economic sustainability and competitiveness of European farmers.
"I look forward to hearing more detail from Commissioner Hansen on how the Fertiliser Action Plan will respond to these pressures.”
Also on the agenda for today's meeting in Brussels is further discussions around the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
According to Minister Heydon, "a strong, well-funded CAP, together with a functioning EU Single Market, remain the key mechanism for ensuring food security throughout Europe and supporting our farming and food sectors in response to geopolitical shocks.”
He also expects that the Mercosur trade agreement will be discussed today.
"Trade will be discussed at this meeting, as it always is.
"Ireland notes the interim implementation of the Mercosur trade agreement. We look forward to the rigorous implementation of analysis and monitoring of the market impacts of this deal, and also very robust interventions in terms of implementation of the safeguards where they're required.
"We hope and expect that similar monitoring will happen with other new trade deals, including the EU-Australia trade deal, and the impact of trade deals like the UK is doing with Australia and New Zealand," the minister added.
The meeting of government ministers in Brussels today comes as Ireland ramps up preparations to take on the Presidency of the Council of the EU in July.
According to Minister Heydon, one of the key priorities during the presidency is to "deliver for our farmers".
