On Monday, there will be a meeting in Brussels on phosphate fertilizers that could unbalance the European market. And so agriculture.
" We are vigilantly awaiting the decision that will be taken because it will have potentially serious consequences for the European agricultural world. Sébastien Chauffaut, president of the Roullier group in Saint-Malo, is not used to shock statements. This family group, born in 1959, is a leader in the manufacture of fertilizers with a turnover of
2.5 billion euros in 2017 and more than 8,000 employees worldwide, including 2,300 in France.
If the Roullier group sounds the alarm, it is because of the rate of cadmium present in phosphate fertilizers. Cadmium, naturally present in phosphate rock, is carcinogenic at a very high dosage. But at what rate? In 2016, the European Commission presented a project to reduce it.
Russian monopoly in sight
The Council of Ministers of the European Union wants to limit it to 60 mg / kg with implementation in eight years. The European Commission is arguing for a decreasing proposal of 60 mg / kg in three years, then 40 mg / kg for the next nine years and 20 mg / kg beyond. Finally, the European Parliament is in favor of 60 mg / kg over six years, 40 mg / kg for the next ten years and 20 mg / kg beyond.
These discussions have been going on for two years without agreement being reached. In France, the cadmium content remains at 90 mg / kg. But within Unifa (Union of Fertilizer Industries), a consensus was agreed to reduce it to 60 mg. " Studies show that the current tolerated level does not present a risk to health and that there is also no agronomic reason to justify a lower rate, " say officials Unifa.
Why, then, does Europe insist as much on the reduction of cadmium? " It seems that there was a very strong lobbying of the Russians who would be the big winners, " said Sébastien Chauffaut.
Russian phosphatic rocks naturally have a cadmium level of less than 8 mg / kg. Today, Europe, which imports 70% of its phosphate needs, works mainly with Morocco and Algeria ... where the cadmium rate varies between 30 and 70 mg / kg. " If the decision to lower the rate of cadmium to 20 mg / kg is taken by Brussels, Russia will hold the monopoly of natural resources of phosphates for the European market. Russia could impose its rules on the market as it could with gas at the time of the Ukrainian crisis.
Emmanuel Macron alerted
The Roullier group has therefore decided to ask the Elysée to support agriculture and industrial fertilizers. A letter was urgently deposited Friday on the office of the President of the Republic because the French industry had learned the day before, a meeting of the trialogue European (Council, Parliament and Commission) was scheduled for Monday in Brussels.
In its letter, the Malian company claims that a lowering of the rate to less than 60 mg / kg " would put European agriculture in a position of dependence. With consequences on the price of the raw material and therefore a loss of competitiveness. The same is true, ultimately, of food self-sufficiency in the European Union. "