European farmers face lower fertiliser bills after the Council suspended import duties on nitrogen-based products for one year, saving the sector an estimated €60 million. The measure aims to ease pressure on agricultural producers and help diversify supply chains. Imports from Russia and Belarus remain excluded from the relief, as the EU continues to wean itself off suppliers linked to the war in Ukraine.
The suspension covers nitrogen-based fertilisers such as urea and ammonium nitrate. Farmers must have regular access to affordable supplies to sustain crop yields and keep food on European tables.
Makis Keravnos, Cyprus’s Finance Minister, said the decision gives farmers “better access to affordable, reliable fertiliser supplies” and is “good news for the agriculture sector and EU consumers alike.” The suspended duties currently range between 5.5 and 6.5 per cent of the import value.
Nitrogen fertilisers are among the most widely used agricultural inputs in Europe. Without them, yields on key crops such as wheat, maize, and rapeseed would fall sharply, pushing up food prices for consumers across the bloc.
You might be interested
Shutting out Russia and Belarus
The Council said the measure would also reduce the EU’s dependence on Russia and Belarus as suppliers of fertiliser products. Both countries have in recent years been among Europe’s main sources of nitrogen-based fertilisers.
In practice, the suspension applies only to products not already imported duty-free under most favoured nation (MFN) tariff arrangements. To protect EU producers, the measure is capped at a quota. It matches 2024 MFN import volumes, plus 20 per cent of what Russia and Belarus exported to the EU that year.
The suspension excludes Russia entirely, given its war of aggression against Ukraine. The measure also shuts out Belarus, given its support for Moscow and disregard for international law.
“At the same time, we are accelerating away from Russian and Belarusian products and building more resilient supply chains and partnerships globally.”
— Makis Keravnos, Finance Minister of Cyprus
“At the same time, we are accelerating away from Russian and Belarusian products and building more resilient supply chains and partnerships globally,” Keravnos added. The shift is part of a broader push to cut strategic dependencies. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent fertiliser prices soaring and laid bare the risks of relying on a handful of exporters.
Europe’s fertiliser dependency
The scale of Europe’s fertiliser dependency is substantial. In 2024, the EU imported two million tonnes of ammonia and 5.9 million tonnes of urea, the bulk of which feeds into nitrogen fertiliser production. Three years earlier, in 2021, the bloc imported 6.7 million tonnes of nitrogenous fertilisers. The figures underline how heavily European agriculture depends on external supplies.
Most nitrogen fertilisers already enter the EU duty-free under existing preferential trade arrangements. A significant share of imports, however, remains subject to the common customs tariff. The suspension targets precisely this segment, with Brussels hoping to push down costs and open the door to a wider range of supplier countries.
