The Commission has concluded that a degree of dumping did take place and as such it supports the continued application of duties in order to protect the EU fertilizer manufacturing industry.
The NFU, alongside other European farming unions such as the Irish Farmers’ Association, gave evidence to DG Trade during the inquiry and argued that the high level of duties currently applied means that EU UAN prices are consistently above world prices.
UAN use is concentrated in the arable sector and volatility in UAN prices directly translates into farm input costs. It is estimated that the anti-dumping measures currently in place add an additional cost of €40m to UK farmers every year.
However, despite supporting the application of duties, the Commission has proposed that the existing ad valorem duties should be replaced with a fixed specific duty. It is a positive, albeit small, piece of good news for EU farmers as, with prices continuing to rise, the cost of the duty will at least remain fixed.
This proposal from the Commission will now progress for approval by member states at the TDI (trade defensive instruments) committee in DG Trade at their September meeting.