About

The blog is written by the team at Fertilizers Europe in Brussels. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect those of the Association or its members. You will find the contact details of our team at www.fertilizerseurope.com.

The mission

The mission of the European fertilizer industry is to respond to the needs of agriculture and society by providing, in accordance with the principles of Responsible Care, a reliable and competitive supply of high-quality mineral fertilizers.

The industry encourages, moreover, the adoption of Good Agricultural Practices in the use of plant nutrients, thus stimulating farmers and growers to produce high-quality crops in an economically and environmentally sound manner.

The mission of the European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association is to identify, promote and manage the common interests of its members by:

• promoting the role of mineral fertilizers in European agriculture and horticulture;
• anticipating and preparing for upcoming issues that may affect the industry;
• being the industry’s spokesperson and sounding board;
• providing its members with a wide range of statistical information and studies.

CORE VALUES

The Core Values are fundamental to our organisation. All members must adhere to these values:

Responsibility as Provider of a Life Essential Product
As provider of a life essential product we recognise our responsibility towards all our stakeholders, customers, shareholders, employees, society at large and future generations. We are committed and act accordingly.

Sustainable Delivery of Value
We deliver optimum value to our customers, suppliers, shareholders and employees in a sustainable manner.

Sustainable Performance in Matters of Health, Safety and Environment
We strive for the highest safety, health and environmental standards. Subscribing to the principles of Responsible Care, we conduct all our activities in a manner which contributes to the goal of sustainable development.

Science and Innovation
We base our activities on sound science. We strive for innovation and continuous improvement.

Free and Fair Trade
We believe in, adhere to, protect and promote the concept of free and fair trade.

Ethical Conduct
Our conduct is ethical and honest, open and transparent.

ROLE

The European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association represents the major fertilizer manufacturers in Europe. Its members account for approximately 81 percent of the region’s nitrogen fertilizer capacity and around 55 percent of phosphate fertilizer capacity (EU-25 and Norway). The issues that the industry devotes its attention to may be matters that have prompted concern within the industry itself (related, for example, to its competitiveness, its profitability or even its existence); they may, on the other hand, have arisen in other sectors of society in connection with the production or use of fertilizers.

The industry produces nutrients essential for plant growth. It offers a wide range of products, each of which contains one or more of the several nutrients required by the plant. The most important of these are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), all of which originate from naturally-occurring raw materials. The principal products supplied by the European producers are the straight nitrogen fertilizers, such as calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN), ammonium nitrate (AN), urea, and urea ammonium nitrate solutions (UAN), and compound fertilizers, which contain a variety of both macro and micro nutrients.

The European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association depends heavily on the unstinting contributions of its members’ delegates, who impart their own knowledge and their companies’ expertise in Committee meetings. The European Fertilizer Manufacturers Association also depends on the commitment of full-time employees, who initiate actions, co-ordinate the efforts of the members and, either alone or with the members, represent the Association in discussions with other parties.

HISTORY

Four organisations preceded Fertilizer Europe. The first of these was the Centre d’Etude de l’Azote (CEA).It was established in Geneva in 1953, in a period when the Western European fertilizer manufacturers produced 50 percent of the world’s nitrogen fertilizers. It was a time when competition in the existing export markets was beginning to grow but also when population growth in developing countries meant that new markets were emerging. The Western European producers decided to create a means of introducing these potential markets to mineral fertilizers. They therefore founded CEA, whose statutes defined its purpose as being “… the scientific and practical study of methods capable of insuring a rational and increasing use of nitrogenous fertilizers throughout the world.”

In addition to the staff employed at the secretariat in Geneva (later located in Basel and subsequently in Zurich), CEA employed agronomists, who were sent on fact-finding missions and temporary secondments to agricultural research stations in developing countries. CEA co-operated actively with agricultural organisations and institutes world-wide, with international fertilizer organisations such as ISMA in Paris (the predecessor of IFA) and IPI in Bern, and with international organisations such as FAO, UNIDO, the World Bank and IMCO (later IMO).

 

Three years later, in 1959, the producers decided to broaden the co-operation they had begun in CEA to include matters of general and economic interest, To this end, they established a third organisation, APEA (Association des Producteurs de l’Engrais Azoté). This was the first European producers’ association with a European focus. Matters such as the production, storage and transportation of nitrogen fertilizers were discussed, and a series of handbooks on safety issues was produced.

 

Finally, in 1976, another group, known as CMC Engrais, was formed. It was made up exclusively of producers from the six EU countries at that time, and its objective was to study the problems of the EU fertilizer producers in their dealings with the EU institutions.

The focus on Brussels

By 1988, most of the members of APEA/CEA and CMC Engrais were either domiciled in one of the (by then twelve) EU member states or owned production facilities in an EU member state. Moreover, there had been a gradual change in sales patterns within Europe. The members of the fertilizer industry no longer perceived their potential market as being marked by national boundaries; in the Sixties and Seventies, they had slowly become pan-European manufacturers and deliverers of fertilizer. The decision to merge the three existing organisations to form a single European fertilizer manufacturers association was therefore a logical step.

 

The founder members of Fertilizers Europe also realised that in order to be heard in Brussels, they would need to speak with one voice. Increasingly, legislation affecting their countries of origin was being initiated in Brussels, and failure to become involved in the policy-making process at the European level meant having no say in matters that would eventually become part of national legislation. In all the areas of legislation that had a direct or indirect affect on the fortunes of the fertilizer industry – trade policy, environment, agriculture and the regulation of industry – the EU had started to take the lead.

 

The period between 1988 and 1995 was characterised by a profound restructuring of the industry. The process initiated by the industry was facilitated by a series of studies undertaken by Fertilizers Europe, such as those on the FSU and world gas markets, on third party access to gas and energy, on the fertilizer industry of the European Union (/Commission), on long-term fertilizer consumption, and on production costs (/AC Fiduciaire), and further studies undertaken on behalf of Fertilizers Europe by external experts, such as those on competitiveness and on environmental strategy.

Relations with the European Commission have been built up systematically from the working level to that of the Commissioners, mainly with the Directorates General for Trade, for Enterprise and Industry, for Agriculture and Rural Development, for Environment, for Science and Research and for Energy. The basis for the good partnerships which have been forged is the supply of honest and reliable information at all times.

Fertilizers Europe has taken an active part in seminars and workshops in the fields of agriculture, environment, trade and technical affairs. There have been numerous publications, for example technical guidance booklets, position papers, expert opinions, as well as contributions to OSPAR, HELCOM and the OECD.