Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia want to limit the import of more products from Ukraine
Source：Free Europe (Svobodna Evropa)
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Sofia
Update Time：2023/05/17
The Ministers of Agriculture of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are asking the European Commission to expand the range of products from Ukraine for which safeguard measures were proposed. They also want to increase the measures to protect the affected five Eastern European countries.
"We believe that the proposed exceptional safeguard in the form of allowing imports only for the purpose of transit to the rest of the EU and the rest of the world should be applied to a wider range of products."
This is what the five ministers wrote in a joint letter, which is available to Free Europe, to the Vice-President of the EC and European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis , and the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski .
About a year ago, the EC decided to remove tariffs on goods from Ukraine in solidarity with the country, whose economy relies heavily on agricultural production while Russia is at war with it. However, this has affected local markets and farmers in several countries have protested against facilitated imports on the grounds that it undercuts the local market.
Since the beginning of April , Poland, Hungary and Slovakia and Bulgaria have temporarily banned the import of grain, wheat, sunflower, milk, meat and other foods originating in Ukraine. On Friday, Romania said it would suspend the ban on imports of Ukrainian products for the time being. In Bulgaria, the ban comes into force on April 24 and will be valid until June 30. The transit of goods from Ukraine destined for third countries remains permitted.
On April 19 , the EC offered financial aid to affected farmers in the five countries, as well as safeguard measures for "key products". However, the money will only come if they lift unilaterally imposed bans on food imports from Ukraine because it "puts the internal market at risk".
"We appreciate the proposed measures (...), but they are not enough," the agriculture ministers of the five countries wrote to the EC. According to them, allowing imports only for the purposes of transit to the rest of the EU and the rest of the world should not only apply to wheat, maize, rape and sunflower seeds.
They propose to cover several more products: sunflower oil, flour, honey, sugar, soft fruits, eggs, meat (all types), milk and milk products . On Friday, oil producers in Bulgaria spoke out against limited imports from Ukraine. According to them, this will lead to bankruptcies and risk to the internal market.
The ministers also want to guarantee the continuation of these measures after the expiration of the current regulation, and their withdrawal - only after balancing the market of the affected countries.
Source: https://www.svobodnaevropa.bg/a/32374762.html