Temporary ban on Ukrainian agricultural imports common for 5 EU states may take effect on May 2 - media
WARSAW. May 2 (Interfax) - The European Commission wants its decision covering Ukrainian agricultural imports to Poland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary and replacing the unilateral ban imposed by these countries to enter into force on May 2, Polish radio said on Saturday.
"In line with the agreement reached the day before between the European Commission and Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Hungary, the legal services of the European Commission and the Directorate-General for Trade will prepare necessary regulations. The goal is to ensure that they take effect on May 2," the radio station said.
At Ukraine's request, sunflower oil has been removed from the list of products targeted by the ban, but wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed remained on this list, it said.
European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said on April 25 after a meeting of the EU agriculture ministers in Brussels that EU countries were close to securing a common solution to the problem of Ukrainian agricultural exports, which have caused prices in some EU members in Eastern Europe to plummet.
Wojciechowski reported ongoing talks between the European Commission and five EU member countries - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
"The European Commission's proposal is to impose a temporary ban in imports not for the entire European Union, but for these five neighboring countries and on five sensitive products, such as maize, wheat, rapeseed, sunflower seed, and sunflower oil," he said.
Several EU countries began encountering problems related to the influx of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products to the market of Eastern Europe during the first few months of 2023. They were largely caused by the EU's temporary lifting of customs duties on the import of grain and oil-bearing crops from Ukraine. As a result of this measure, Ukrainian agricultural imports to neighboring countries grew substantially.
In particular, Ukrainian products, including grain, sunflower, eggs, poultry meat, sugar, apples, apple juice, berries, flour, honey, and pasta started to inundate shop shelves in these countries, thus leading to a sharp drop of prices and delivering a heavy blow to farmers in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia.
Farmers staged large-scale protests in these countries in February and March 2023, prompting the authorities to urge the EU to develop mechanisms that could help improve oversight of Ukrainian grain exports and avert such give-away prices.
In the end, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia imposed a unilateral ban on the import of grain and some other agricultural products from Ukraine seeking to protect their producers. However, the transit of such products was not banned.
The European Commission, in turn, said that the agreement on the temporary suspension of customs duties on Ukrainian agricultural products would stay in effect until June, after which a new proposal to prolong this practice would be submitted. The most affected EU countries - Bulgaria, Poland and Romania - have received 56 million euros as the first package of assistance from the EU agricultural fund.