Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia may extend the ban on imports from Ukraine
Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia will extend restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products at the national level and expand their list if the moratorium on grain imports from Ukraine expires on 15 September, Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said.
Nagy met with his counterparts from Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia on Tuesday, discussing with them the prospect of extending the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, which expires on 15 September 2023. Earlier it was reported that the Polish Cabinet of Ministers by its resolution banned grain imports from Ukraine after 15 September regardless of the decision of the European Commission.
“We have agreed with our Romanian, Bulgarian and Slovakian colleagues that if there is no decision from Brussels to extend the moratorium (on imports of Ukrainian grain – ed.), we will continue on our own within the framework of national competences. We would like to harmonise this process. I would also like to state that then the import ban will not apply to four products, we will present an extended list of products,” Nagy said in a video message broadcast on Facebook*.
Earlier in April, before the introduction of pan-European restrictions, Hungary added meat, poultry, eggs, vegetables, honey, bakery products, sugar and wine to the list of products banned for import into the country from Ukraine, in addition to cereals and oilseeds.
At the end of March, the prime ministers of a number of EU countries asked the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to intervene in the crisis caused by the influx of grain from Ukraine. The letter from the prime ministers of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia noted that “the problems are related to a significant increase in the supply of Ukrainian products to the markets of EU member states, especially those bordering or close to Ukraine”, in particular “there has been an unprecedented increase in imports of cereals, oilseeds, eggs, poultry, sugar, apple juice, berries, apples, flour, honey and pasta”.
The European Commission has adopted measures on imports of certain cereals from Ukraine, which aim to eliminate logistical difficulties associated with these products in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. They came into force on 2 May, the ban was later extended until 15 September. While the EC restrictions are in place, wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds of Ukrainian origin can still be transferred for free circulation in all EU member states except these five. In parallel, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia pledged to lift their unilateral measures on wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and any other products coming from Ukraine.
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