23 January 2024

2 minute learn

The European Fee is trying into methods of permitting japanese EU member states to limit farm imports from Ukraine because it extends commerce liberalisation with Kyiv for an additional yr to June 2025, reported Reuters.

The EU has suspended import duties, quotas and commerce defence measures for imports from Ukraine since June 2022 to assist its economic system after Russia’s invasion. Nevertheless, low-cost Ukrainian grain exports have sparked protests by governments, farmers and truckers in neighbouring international locations akin to Poland and Hungary.

EU Commerce Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis mentioned the Fee was about to current a proposal for the brand new interval to June 2025, taking into consideration the sensitivities of agricultural sectors in japanese member states of the bloc.

The present association does embody safeguards however these solely apply if the entire EU market is affected.

“We’re the very best methods to do it, together with the potential of having the safeguards not solely within the case of disturbances to the EU market as a complete, but additionally in case of disturbances in a single member state or just a few member states,” Dombrovskis advised reporters earlier than a gathering of EU ministers on commerce.

The EU commerce chief mentioned the Fee was trying into easy methods to safeguard essentially the most delicate merchandise, including he had mentioned the difficulty with the agriculture ministers of Poland and Hungary previously 24 hours.

One EU diplomat mentioned the plan would permit affected EU members to take motion rapidly for an preliminary 4 months, topic to a Fee evaluation inside three weeks. Ukraine would even be encourage to align extra with EU requirements.

Earlier Hungarian Overseas Minister Peter Szijjarto mentioned the inflow of low-cost Ukrainian grain had “ruined” central European markets.

“We’ve got banned the import of Ukrainian grain and a few agricultural merchandise… We want to keep that measure… We want to come again to the unique settlement which was to safe transit for Ukrainian grain,” he mentioned.

Till mid-September final yr, the EU had allowed 5 international locations – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – to ban home gross sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, whereas permitting them to transit for export elsewhere.