Poland invites Ukraine to develop mechanism for mutual licensing of agricultural exports

MOSCOW. March 12 (Interfax) - Poland has invited Ukraine to develop a mechanism for the mutual licensing of agricultural exports, Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski said at the ninth meeting of the Polish-Ukrainian Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation in Lvov on Monday.

"Minister Czeslaw Siekierski has summed up results of Polish-Ukrainian cooperation in the agriculture and food sector. He underlined that Poland and Ukraine would always be cooperating and competing with one another in this area," Ukrainian media said, citing a statement on the Polish Agriculture Ministry's website.

While commenting on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, Siekierski said that the changed logistics and trade liberalization between the EU and Ukraine had drastically enlarged imports of certain agricultural goods by Poland. In response to serious disruptions in agricultural markets and growing social unrest, Poland had to introduce certain restrictions on imports from Ukraine.

"We want to develop a method of protection from negative implications of Ukrainian agricultural imports, which would be acceptable to all parties," Siekierski said, adding that he hoped for the development of a mechanism of mutual licensing of agricultural exports.

Poland is ready to share practices and experience for the Ukrainian agricultural sector's adjustment to EU regulations, Siekierski said. He said he hoped for Polish-Ukrainian cooperation in the joint food exports to third countries.

The lift of the Ukrainian agricultural import ban would require the introduction of preemptive solutions to regulate such trade in an effective and systematic manner, he said.

In turn, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Solsky said that Ukrainian exporters were increasingly using bypasses around Poland for agricultural exports, which would reduce the burden on the Polish transport infrastructure and cut transit.

The sides agreed to continue negotiations in Warsaw on March 18, 2024. The meeting will prepare for Polish-Ukrainian intergovernmental consultations due in Warsaw on March 28, 2024, the Polish Agriculture Ministry said.