EU farmers’ associations demand stricter control over imports from Ukraine

Six major farmers’ organizations in the European Union have criticized the European Commission’s proposals for better control over imports of Ukrainian agricultural products as insufficient. Their joint appeal was issued on February 15 by the largest EU farmers’ group COPA-COGECA.

European farmers believe that if the European Commission’s proposals are adopted, “the economic sustainability of the EU’s poultry, egg, sugar, grain and honey sectors will be jeopardized.”

They point out that the European Commission does not propose to impose restrictions on imports of grain and honey from Ukraine, and the rest of the goods are to remain at last year’s level, which is insufficient, because “these volumes have led to the current difficult situation of EU producers.”

“Farmers in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia are currently selling their products at prices that are about 40% below the standard market price, and thousands of farms are facing the threat of collapse,” the COPA-COGECA letter says.

In addition, the farmers say, producers of grain, poultry and sugar in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria are beginning to experience “significant pressure.”

In January, farmers’ protests erupted across Europe, with one of their main demands being stricter control over alleged unfair competition from Ukraine.

Farmers say that Ukrainian products that were once destined for Africa or the Middle East now stay in Europe, undermining local producers. They also say that Ukrainian producers are not subject to the EU’s higher environmental and social standards.

Recently, the EU has proposed various safeguard measures that could be applied in case of “extreme necessity,” such as limiting duty-free imports of poultry, eggs, and sugar to average import levels from 2022-2023.

Tags: Ukraine, grain, EU, sugar, Meat, restrictions