The president of the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), Francie Gorman has slammed EU plans to introduce a further tax on fertiliser from January 1, 2026, through the proposed introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

CBAM is a proposed carbon tariff on specific products imported into the EU, of which fertiliser is one.

Gorman said: "If introduced as proposed, this will place a further tariff on fertiliser imported into the EU from third countries.

"But to then come along and introduce another levy on fertiliser next January is beyond belief," the IFA president added.

The IFA believes that inorganic fertiliser plays a pivotal role in the Irish farming sectors, allowing Ireland to maximise its unique European climatic conditions by maximising the yields of both grass and cereals.

This then supports food production within Ireland, and is a key driver of the economic performance of Irish agriculture.

According to the IFA, Ireland imports significant quantities of urea from outside of the EU and would therefore be one of the most impacted countries in the EU from this proposed tariff.

Gorman said: "Farmers are already grappling with the additional costs associated with using protected urea.

"This proposed tariff would make protected urea less competitive in comparison to CAN (calcium ammonium nitrate) fertiliser and could well lead to farmers switching back to CAN, directly contravening a key objective of Ireland’s Climate Action Plan which is to encourage grassland farmers to switch from using CAN fertiliser to protected urea," he added.

The IFA called for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon to make sure that the new tariff does not go ahead.

It claims that the EU Commission is planning on introducing a simplification package later this year, and that it is "absolutely critical" that Minister Heydon ensures fertiliser is removed from the CBAM framework in order to avoid a further hike in fertiliser prices for farmers.