12 EU member states, including Belgium, France and Germany, expressed concern about the ban on imports from Ukraine

The agriculture ministers of 12 member states sent a letter to the European Commission expressing “serious concerns” about restrictions on Ukrainian imports, RTBF reports.

These measures of “selective restriction of imports” from Ukraine, taken “without consultation with Member States,” raise “serious concerns as they lead to differential treatment in the internal market,” the letter says. The appeal to the European Commission was signed by Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Slovenia.

“At the very least, clarification is needed on the articulation with European rules, the EU’s obligations related to its customs agreement with Ukraine, and the implications for other member states,” the signatories emphasized.

Last month, five EU countries began to impose import restrictions on goods from Ukraine. The ministers of agriculture of Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary wrote a letter to the European Commission with a proposal to expand the list of products from Ukraine that are banned from import.

In late April, the EC agreed with them and proposed an import ban for four types of products: wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds. However, the list did not include sunflower oil. In addition, the EU was to allocate a support package of EUR 100 million for affected farmers in these five countries.

On May 2, the EC adopted exceptional and temporary import measures. Subsequently, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary announced that they would apply to the EU to extend the import restrictions on goods from Ukraine, which are in effect until June 5.

On May 11, the agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia wrote another letter to the European Commission. The countries argue that the import ban does not apply to goods imported under contracts that were concluded before the EU regulation came into force, i.e. before May 2.

Tags: Ukraine, EU, restrictions