EU should have a common approach to food imports from Ukraine – European Commission

UkrAgroConsult

On Wednesday, the European Commission discussed the problem of excessive imports of grain and other foodstuffs from Ukraine and the EU market with 5 “frontline” countries and Ukraine, and outlined ways to solve this problem.

This was stated on April 19 in a joint statement following a meeting with representatives of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania, as well as Ukraine, by the Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis and European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski.

The full text of the document is available on the European Commission’s website.

“During the meeting… we presented broad EU proposals to address the concerns expressed by 5 member states about the deteriorating situation for EU producers in certain products. The package proposed by the European Commission includes the allocation of the 2nd tranche of agricultural financial aid for affected farmers, exceptional safeguard measures for key products and transit facilitation measures for Ukrainian grain exports through “solidarity corridors”. The package proposed by the European Commission is contingent on the member states lifting their unilateral measures,” the document says.

“We emphasize the importance of a swift implementation of the EU’s common approach, instead of adhering to unilateral decisions, in order to avoid multilateral bans and other decisions that could put the internal market at risk,” the European Commission representatives emphasized.

According to the statement, the European Commission took into account the views presented by the participants of the meeting.

“We have agreed to continue political consultations in the coming days in view of the (need for) a quick decision,” the joint statement said.

As previously reported, local farmers in the countries bordering Ukraine have been protesting against the influx of Ukrainian agricultural exports and the resulting decline in market prices for agricultural products. The governments of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria announced a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products. This caused critical remarks from the European Commission, which insists on finding a common response to the existing problems within the EU.

The governments of five EU countries – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria – sent a letter to the European Commission asking it to take safeguard measures to limit agricultural imports from Ukraine.

After Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the blockade of the Black Sea seaports, through which agricultural products were usually exported to the world market, the EU organized “solidarity corridors” on the borders with Ukraine to direct part of its agricultural exports to the world market by land, using road and rail transport, as well as inland waterways.

Further development of the Black Sea and global grain and oilseeds markets will be discussed by UkrAgroConsult analysts and leading agribusiness operators at the EURO GRAIN HUB Exchange & Forum on April 26-28 in Bucharest, Romania.  Join the key stakeholders from the Black Sea region, Central & Eastern Europe and Balkans, contributing to the global commodity supply chain.

Tags: Ukraine, export, grain, EU, restrictions