Businesses call for resolving fertiliser supply crisis

The International Chamber of Commerce this week urged Washington and Tehran to accept United Nations facilitation to resolve the fertiliser supply crisis sparked by the Hormuz strait blockade.

Global trade in fertilisers crucial to agriculture harvests worldwide has slumped since the start of the Middle East war, as Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, blocking shipments of the raw materials used in fertiliser production.

Highlighting how this was spurring an "extraordinary emerging food crisis" ICC Secretary General John Denton called for the warring sides to take advantage of a United Nations-backed mechanism to get fertiliser moving again.

The question, he told AFP, is "at what point in time will this humanitarian need be able to be resolved by Iran and the US agreeing to the use of this mechanism to actually ease... access to fertiliser and therefore take pressure off the global food system".

"That's a political decision."

About a third of the world's fertiliser used to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which has become a flashpoint for tensions between Iran and the United States since Tehran blocked it in retaliation for the US and Israel starting the Middle East war with strikes on its territory on February 28.

Last month, UN chief Antonio Guterres proposed that the world body could serve as a "neutral facilitator", registering and verifying ships carrying fertiliser and related products to help ensure they make it through the strait.

Guterres, who launched discussions on the issue in March, said the coordination mechanism would be managed from Oman -- which lies on the southern side of the strait opposite Iran.

Since the announcement, the ICC has worked with the UN and its agencies to develop the mechanism, Denton said, hailing it as "a very good example of the private sector working with multilateral agencies".

He said the ICC had been able to provide practical insights on how to get the entire economic ecosystem, from ships, to seafarers, to insurance and ports, to function.

The mechanism must "give everyone confidence that ships could be allowed through", he said, adding that now, "we're ready to run".

Denton voiced hope that with France chairing the UN Security Council this month, President Emmanuel Macron could "use that opportunity to draw attention" to the crisis and "to mobilise and activate the use of this mechanism".

"That's a call to action."