HISTORY

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.

 

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 EFMA 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 EFMA, 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 (EFMA/Commission), on long-term fertilizer consumption, and on production costs (EFMA/AC Fiduciaire), and further studies undertaken on behalf of EFMA 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.

EFMA 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.