Farm organisations have rejected allegations that significant quantities of unregistered fertiliser have been imported from Northern Ireland in an effort to sidestep the new national database.

Both the ICMSA and the ICSA insisted that there was no evidence to support these allegations, which have been made by both merchants and senior fertiliser industry sources.

The ICMSA accused both the merchants and fertiliser suppliers of seeking to stifle the legitimate importation of fertiliser from the North for their own ends.

The ICMSA’s Eamon Carroll said he was “unaware of any abuse in relation to the illegal importation of fertiliser”.

Given the dramatic decline in fertiliser use and the serious cashflow pressures on farms, he expressed the view that such practices, if happening, would not be widespread.

“Legal fertiliser imports from Northern Ireland have increased in recent years, as some farmers have found better value in the North,” stated Carroll, who is chair of the ICMSA’s farm and rural affairs committee.

“This business will only decline if our own co-ops and merchants can step up to the mark and deliver better value to their customers.

“Imports from the North provide much-needed competition, and our own providers should concentrate on their own prices and let legitimate trade continue,” he maintained.

ICSA president Seán McNamara said that he was unaware of any unregistered fertiliser purchased in Northern Ireland being used in the Republic.

“Although we know that some farmers are importing fertiliser, we have no evidence or reason to believe that these supplies have not been properly registered on the National Fertiliser Database,” the ICSA leader said.

The Department of Agriculture confirmed that 35 farmers and businesses had registered as fertiliser economic operators or importers under the new regulations.

Twenty-six of this 35 were also registered as fertiliser end users or farmers.

Up until 24 June, the volume of fertiliser imported by these operators and registered on the national database was 61,847t.