Poland insists on banning Ukraine's grain imports following agricultural ministers' talks
MOSCOW. Sept 27 (Interfax) - Ukraine's Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Nikolai Solsky and Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus discussed Ukraine's export licensing for wheat, rapeseed, corn and sunflower to Poland at an online meeting, Ukrainian media reported, citing the Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry's press service.
According to media reports, the sides discussed Ukraine's action plan for agricultural exports to Poland.
Telus told Solsky that his government is studying mechanisms for issuing licenses to Ukrainian exporters. The Polish government is discussing this issue, in particular, to decide who will approve or decline issuing such licenses.
He said Poland would like Ukraine to recall its complaint filed with the World Trade Organization regarding restrictions on agricultural exports to neighboring European countries.
The agriculture ministers of Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania will meet in the coming days to discuss transferring veterinary control to the export destination country to improve transit through Poland, Solsky said.
A similar procedure also needs to be approved for transit of agricultural products through Poland to Germany, he said. Hungary and Slovakia endorsed this mechanism in August, Solsky said.
Following the meeting, Telus told reporters his government "has a clear position: grain from Ukraine cannot enter the Polish market."
The agriculture ministers of both countries agreed to further address the licensing procedure in a week.
On September 15, the European Commission announced it would not extend restrictions on imports of agricultural produce from Ukraine to the five neighboring EU countries (Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia) with certain conditions that will help avoid a new hike in supplies.
On May 2, the EU imposed restrictions on imports of Ukrainian wheat, rapeseed, sunflower, and corn to the five countries. Those five Eastern European states said duty-free shipments of Ukrainian food products to the EU flooded their markets damaging their agricultural sector.
After the EU lifted the restrictions, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia imposed unilateral bans and Bulgaria considered introducing quotas on the import of Ukrainian sunflower. Poland added rapeseed cake and grist, corn bran, wheat flour, and their derivatives to the import ban list, and Hungary extended its list to 24 items.
Kiev has filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization, accusing Poland, Hungary and Slovakia of banning food imports from Ukraine.