EU countries back new tariffs on Russian fertilisers, farm products

EU countries on Friday backed plans to impose tariffs on additional farm and some fertiliser imports from Russia and its ally Belarus, in a bid to up financial pressure on Moscow over the Ukraine war.

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The 97-nation European Union has hit Russia with multiple rounds of sanctions in response to its invasion of its neighbour in 2022.

But the latest move has proved controversial, with farmers’ groups calling the levy on fertilisers a “gamble” the bloc could not afford.

The new tariffs are “expected to reduce Russian export revenues, thereby limiting Russia’s ability to finance its war of aggression,” the European Council said in a statement.

Proposed by the European Commission in January, the measures were approved by government representatives during a meeting in Brussels on Friday.

The council will now have to negotiate a final text with the European Parliament before it can come into force.

The proposal aims to target the 15 percent of Russian farm goods that were not affected by sweeping tariffs that came into force last July.

If enforced, it would subject all agricultural imports from Russia to EU levies.

Certain nitrogen-based fertilisers, accounting for more than 25 percent of the EU's total imports — around 3.6 million tonnes, worth a total of 1.98 billion euros ($1.4 billion) — would also be impacted.

In addition to denting Russia’s war coffers, the latter measure aims to reduce dependencies on imports from Russia and Belarus and support EU producers, the council said.