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The Canadian authorities continues to be taking a look at extra measures to cut back the affect of 35 per cent tariffs on fertilizer from Russia and Belarus, in keeping with the federal agriculture minister.
Nonetheless, Marie-Claude Bibeau isn’t saying what these measures might be.
Farm teams, together with Grain Farmers of Ontario and Grain Growers of Quebec, have been calling on the federal government to take speedy motion to eradicate the burden on farmers attributable to sanctions on Russian fertilizer at a time when most fertilizers are in tight provide and already at document excessive costs. Farmers say the tariffs have additionally led to cost will increase on fertilizer that was not a part of sanctioned shipments.
“We’re following the state of affairs intently, having common conversations with representatives of the totally different sectors to grasp the place the wants are, the place the gaps are, and there are some choices that we’re contemplating proper now,” mentioned Bibeau, on Saturday (Might 14) after assembly with agriculture ministers and secretaries from different G7 nations in Stuttgart, Germany.
“I wish to put the emphasis on the very fact we made positive the vessels, the boats, the fertilizers did get to Canada for farmers to have entry to those fertilizers, and that we have now made some modifications to the Advance Funds Program to permit farmers basically throughout the nation to have the money stream they want to have the ability to face the state of affairs proper now with excessive enter prices,” she mentioned (referring to this announcement concerning money advances in early April.)
Different nations, together with members of the G7, haven’t focused fertilizer to the identical extent as Canada of their sanctions towards Russia. The U.S. notably issued a carve-out or exemption to particularly permit purchases of fertilizer merchandise from Russia in late March.
On the identical time, crop manufacturing in Jap Canada could be very reliant on nitrogen fertilizer from Russia and Belarus. As much as 680 thousand tonnes of nitrogen are imported from Russia to Jap Canada yearly, representing 85-90 per cent of the full nitrogen fertilizer used within the area, in keeping with Fertilizer Canada.
A lot of the G7 ministers’ assembly on Might 13 and 14 targeted on the affect of the conflict in Ukraine and help for the nation’s agriculture sector, because the ministers had been joined by Ukraine’s agriculture minister on Friday.
They mentioned the logistical necessities and eventualities for getting grain out of Ukraine, because the conflict has blocked motion via main port terminals in southern Ukraine — the nation’s essential export routes. Canada’s contribution will probably contain phytosanitary and technical help when grain is exported by way of non-traditional routes, mentioned Bibeau.
“This can be a very particular request that has been made to us, and that is one thing that we’re already engaged on with our Ukrainian counterparts,” she famous. “Once we wish to transfer meals, we have now to supply export certificates to ensure of the standard of the meals. That is one thing we’ll be engaged on with them to see how we will present technical help or tools on this regard.”
She additionally famous Canada might be rising its funding for the G20 Agricultural Market Info System (AMIS) to offer evaluation concerning the meals safety affect, meals value volatility, and meals inventory ranges because of the conflict.
Learn the G7 Agriculture Ministers’ joint assertion following the assembly in Stuttgart right here.
Associated: Vital fertilizer shipments for Jap Canada stranded by sanctions towards Russia
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