The Ministry of Agrarian Policy unveiled Ukraine’s proposals to unblock grain exports to the EU

Ukraine proposes that EU countries agree on the volumes of wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed that they are willing to import. Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solsky said this during an online speech at a meeting of the European Parliament’s Agricultural Committee, the ministry’s press service reports.

He called the European Commission’s decision to lift restrictions on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products a long-awaited one. However, it provides for the introduction of additional control measures over the export of Ukrainian grain.

Solsky emphasized that in order to fulfill these conditions, Ukraine had developed and submitted to the European Commission an action plan for export control within 72 hours, which should remove the reservations of some EU countries.

“According to our action plan, Ukraine will control and regulate exports as follows. We agree with the European Commission and importing countries on the required list and volume of agricultural products from four crops, and they, in turn, determine whether they are ready to accept these crops, when and in what volumes. Only then do we issue permits to our companies to export certain products. In other words, Ukraine controls its exports and coordinates them with the receiving countries,” Solsky said.

The minister also said that the Ukrainian government has already approved a new procedure for exporting certain types of products to certain EU member states. It stipulates that exports of corn, rapeseed, sunflower and wheat to 5 neighboring EU countries require a license from the Ministry of Economy in coordination with the Ministry of Agrarian Policy.

“We believe that such a scheme will satisfy all parties. And even the three countries that are currently opposed to Ukrainian agricultural exports will also join this plan. Because we all have the same goal – to win this terrible war. And for this, there must be mutual understanding and mutual support,” Solsky emphasized.

As reported, on September 15, the European Commission refused to extend the temporary ban on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed to five EU countries neighboring Ukraine, despite the insistence of the governments of Poland and Hungary.

Following this, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced their decision to unilaterally block imports of Ukrainian agricultural products and suspended their participation in the Coordination Platform established under the auspices of the European Commission to resolve the issue.

In response, Ukraine requested consultations with Slovakia, Poland and Hungary in accordance with the rules and procedures for dispute settlement under the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO). In addition, Ukraine has warned Poland and Hungary of imposing restrictions on imports of agricultural products from these countries.

Tags: grain, EU, restrictions, Ukraine