Poland says negotiations with Ukraine on restrictions on imports of agricultural products are in the final stages

Technical negotiations with Ukraine on the introduction of restrictions on imports of agricultural products are at the final stage. This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture of Poland Czeslaw Siekerski.

According to him, the new rules should be formulated by the end of March.

“We want to limit and control the flow of goods from Ukraine so as not to disrupt the stability of certain markets. We also want the EU to support food exports from Ukraine to countries in need in different parts of the world,” the Polish minister said.

According to the Polish Ministry of Agriculture, today, February 15, the Polish Minister of Agriculture met with the protesting farmers for more than three hours. The farmers have many demands, but the two main ones are to cancel the European norms of the “green course” and to completely close the border with Ukraine.

Farmers complain about the large surplus of grain in Poland and the difficult economic situation, especially before the sowing season. They are suffering, in particular, because of what they consider to be an uncontrolled influx of agricultural products from Ukraine. The Polish Minister of Agriculture said that it is impossible to completely close the border.

“There is no state that has completely closed borders. Maybe North Korea, maybe somewhere else,” he said, promising to present other farmers’ demands at the February 26 meeting of the EU Council of Agriculture Ministers, as well as at a government meeting next week.

“We want to minimize the ‘green course’ and adapt it to the expectations of farmers,” the minister said.

He also asked the farmers to make their blockades and protests less burdensome for society.

The Ukrainian side has not yet commented on this statement by Czesław Sierkiewski.