Ottawa will not ease Russian fertilizer tariff

Glacier FarmMedia – Ottawa will not exempt buyers from the tariffs on Russian fertilizer even if the purchases were made before sanctions were imposed March 2.

The Conservatives pressed the government during question period late last month and again in the House of Commons agriculture committee.

Agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said the 35 per cent tariff applies to all Russian fertilizer shipments. Farmers in Eastern Canada in particular buy about one-third of their fertilizer needs from other countries.

Why it matters: The federal government’s tariff on Russian fertilizer resulted in increased costs for Canadian farmers.

“We let the fertilizers come into the country because we knew how badly our producers needed those,” she said.

Bibeau said changes to the Advance Payment Program were made to help all producers who are facing significant increases in input costs and the government is working on other options.

“We’re also working on other strategies in the supply chain and in terms of research and innovation so that we’re not in that same situation in the future,” she said. “We want to be much less dependent on Russia.”

In the House, Conservative agriculture critic John Barlow noted that Canada is the only G7 country that imposed fertilizer tariffs, even though it expects farmers to step up and supply more grains because Ukrainian production is likely to be down.

“Does this government not realize that the 35 per cent tariff it is imposing on our farmers is not even penalizing Russia?” asked Conservative MP from Beauce, Richard Lehoux. “It is only handicapping our family farms and doubling the cost of producing Canadian food.”

Paul Samson, associate deputy minister at the federal agriculture department, told the committee that the last of the ships carrying Russian fertilizer had recently been approved to enter Canada.

“Companies are now positioning to not use Russian fertilizer going forward because there are a lot of other options,” he said. “There are also plans being looked at as to how we could increase production in the eastern part of Canada or transport additional fertilizer from the western part of the country.”

The Conservatives also raised the issue of the government’s fertilizer emissions reduction pledge and how that would be accomplished with the need to grow more crops.

Bibeau said she believed new technologies, such as a development at the protein supercluster that will see canola residue turned into fertilizer, are the answer.

Barlow asked if the sanctions were just a way to force farmers to use less fertilizer. Bibeau said they are two different issues.

– This article was originally published at The Western Producer.