Strasbourg, 24th October - West Midlands MEP Daniel Dalton has condemned controversial new regulations for agricultural fertilisers that ignore expert opinion and will raise costs for both farmers and producers.

The European Parliament has approved proposals to drastically cut the level of contaminants allowed in fertilisers to 20mg/kg, four times lower than the level proposed by Conservative MEPs, 80mg/kg, which scientific evidence shows is the required level to cut cadmium levels in soil.

Such a move would likely force UK farmers to Import raw materials from Russia with lower natural levels of cadmium contamination, leading to a significant cost increase to farmers.

After the vote Mr Dalton said: "These recommendations go against scientific evidence, are far more restrictive than in the rest of the world and would have a dramatic impact on our ability to produce food."

"Farmers need affordable and high quality fertilisers. If these proposals go through they will face massive cost increases and our food would become even more expensive."