Five EU member countries once again ask the European Commission to extend the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine

The agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia have written another letter to the European Commission regarding agricultural products from Ukraine, PAP reports, citing its sources.

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.

The ministers believe that allowing the fulfillment of previously concluded contracts could lead to numerous abuses. They also believe that there is a serious risk that fictitious (undated) contracts will be cleared through customs, and customs authorities will not have effective tools to check and challenge such documents. Therefore, the countries called on the European Commission to urgently find a legally binding solution and correct the agreement.

In addition, the ministers demanded confirmation from the European Commission that once the new regulation on the suspension of duties comes into force, the Commission’s regulation extending the preventive measures for four products until the end of 2023 will also come into force for another year.

In late April, the European Commission reached an agreement with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia on imports of Ukrainian agri-food products. The EC 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 European Commission adopted exceptional and temporary safeguard measures on imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The measures will last until June 5, 2023. At the same time, the aforementioned grains from Ukraine can be transported in transit through the territories of these five countries.

Subsequently, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary announced that they would apply to the EU to extend the restrictions on imports from Ukraine, which are in effect until June 5.

Tags: Slovakia, restrictions, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, EU, Poland, Hungary