EU puts an end to restrictions on Potash imports
Brussels, 13 July 2011: The European Commission has announced that anti-dumping measures on potash imports from Russia and Belarus will expire as of 13th July 2011. The restrictions date from 1992, and have had the effect of limiting the availability of reasonably priced supplies of this vital input in food production.
The measures were not only pushing up European farmers costs and therefore food prices but also restricting the supply of potash at a time when this mineral fertilizer is in great demand. In the expiry review process, the Commission did not receive a sufficiently substantiated request to maintain the out-dated restrictions.
The decision to extend the measures in 2006 was made on grounds of the fragile and vulnerable situation. However, the EU industry has been reporting robust and record profits ever since a fact which highlights just how unnecessary these measures are.
John Scollay, Managing Director of Fintec, a potash importer said: This is the sensible decision: its clear that the evidence supports our view that the measures to restrict the import of potash from Belarus and Russia are no longer needed. The potash market has changed beyond recognition since these measures were put in force in 1992. Similar concerns were raised by several stakeholders in the agricultural sector and a number of MEPs.
There is no substitute for potash in agriculture. It is essential in order to maintain and expand food production – an ever increasing concern as farmers seek to balance greater exposure to costs of production issues against the needs to find ways to increase food production. We believe that European farmers should be able to choose from a larger range of suppliers of fertilizer. added Scollay.
A request for an interim review of the measures was made by Fintec in 2010[1], and supported by a number of organisations in the agricultural sector, including the National Farmers Union and several potash importer associations. The Commission had accepted this request as Fintec provided sufficient evidence that the measures were no longer necessary.
The Potash market has changed radically since the measures were introduced in 1992, when the breakdown of the USSR had led to a jump in exports to the EU at low and volatile prices. Since then demand for potash has recovered strongly, with potash prices more than doubling since 2007.
[1] Interim reviews can be requested by parties impacted by anti-dumping measures before the measures expire to obtain a full or partial review of the measures in place.