Poland hoping for agreement with European Commission on surplus Ukrainian agricultural products
WARSAW. April 26 (Interfax) - Warsaw would like to solve the problem of surplus imports of Ukrainian agricultural products through an agreement with the European Commission, otherwise it will keep protective measures in place, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on Wednesday.
"Poland is hoping for an agreement with the European Commission regarding surplus grain imports from Ukraine. The country will not lift the ban on Ukrainian products unless this happens," Telus said on Radio Poland.
The minister said he also expected the consent of the European Commission to provide financial support for farmers in the very near future.
"I do not know how quickly that may happen, but I would like to see a good agreement, and this is what's most important to me. This means we need to elaborate mechanisms which will work for years instead of this particular moment," Telus said.
"This is not just about solving the current problem, we need tools to prevent this situation from happening again and to assure Polish farmers there will be no oversupply in our market, and that it won't be destabilized like before," he said.
The European Commission held negotiations with five EU member states - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia - in Luxembourg on Tuesday.
"And now, the Commission's proposal on the table is to introduce [a] temporary import ban, not for the whole European Union, but only for five frontline countries for five more sensitive products, which are maize, wheat, rapeseeds, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil," European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said on Tuesday.
Poland and another four countries have suggested banning eight more products, including honey, sugar, poultry and dairy products, he said. However, these products do not have the same effect on the market as the five suggested by the European Commission, Wojciechowski said. They account for 90% of imports from Ukraine, while the other eight products amount to less than 10% of imports.
Wojciechowski said the sides were close to an agreement on the five products.
The Western media said that farmers in a number of the EU's eastern countries have been experiencing problems caused by an influx of Ukrainian grain and other products in recent months. Countries bordering Ukraine currently have a surplus of grain, seeds, eggs, poultry meat, sugar, apples and apple juice, berries, flour, honey and pasta. This is leading to oversupply, which in turn is having a negative impact on the prices of local producers. Additionally, while these goods remain in excess on the shelves in these countries, they are failing to reach countries outside the EU that are ready to buy them.