Six South American nations pushing to exclude fertilizer from Russia sanctions

She said Brazil has secured the support of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for a proposal excluding fertilizer products that will be submitted to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.

Brazil, an agricultural powerhouse, is the world's top importer of fertilizers and argues that crop nutrients, like food, should not be targeted by sanctions.

Brazil relies on imports for 85% of the fertilizer it needs for its grain crops. More than one-fifth of its imports, totaling 9 million t in 2021, comes from Russia.

Dias, who is expected to talk to FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, has called on countries to find a global solution for the issue, noting a shortage of fertilizers will cause food inflation and potentially undermine food security.

She hopes to get enough support from FAO to persuade other UN members to back the proposal.

"Global food inflation is something that should worry all countries," Dias said in a recent interview.

Even before the war in Ukraine, the global supply of fertilizers, especially potash, was already being curtailed after the US sanctioned Belarus, another major producer.

As part of Brazil's efforts to secure supplies, Dias and Brazilian company representatives will travel next week to Canada, where Nutrien is based.

While Russia is Brazil's main supplier of the NPK fertilizers, Canada is Brazil's main source of potash used to raise crop yields.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited Moscow days before the invasion of Ukraine to discuss Russian fertilizer supplies and sales of Brazilian beef.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/nitrogen/11032022/six-south-american-nations-pushing-to-exclude-fertilizer-from-russia-sanctions/