Poland allows transport again
Warsaw and Kyiv settle dispute over grain
04/18/2023, 7:29 p.m
Peasants in Poland and Hungary are taking to the barricades. The Ukrainian grain, which is actually only supposed to make a stopover in the countries, is not transported further and causes sales prices to drop. Both countries react with an import ban – Poland is now lifting it.
Poland and Ukraine have settled their dispute over imports of Ukrainian grain. As the Polish Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus said after a meeting with Ukrainian representatives, the import ban imposed by Warsaw is to be lifted and Ukrainian grain will be transported through Poland again from next Saturday. However, Warsaw and Kiev have agreed on “mechanisms” to ensure “that not a ton of grain remains in Poland,” Telus said.
Hungary and Poland announced last Saturday that they would no longer import grain and other food from Ukraine by the end of June. As a result of the Russian war of aggression, fewer agricultural products are exported from Ukraine by sea. Instead, a particularly large amount of grain from Ukraine reaches Poland and other neighboring European countries overland.
Although the agricultural goods are actually supposed to be exported to other countries, they often remain in neighboring Ukrainian countries, causing full silos and significantly falling prices. This in turn drives the peasants in Poland and Hungary to the barricades. Slovakia also banned the sale of Ukrainian wheat as food and animal feed on Friday, citing its alleged pesticide content.
EU wants to continue suspending tariffs on Ukrainian imports
The EU Commission is critical of the grain import ban from Ukraine. When asked, a spokeswoman for the Brussels authority emphasized that trade policy falls under the exclusive competence of the EU and that unilateral measures are therefore not acceptable. It was said that further information was requested in order to be able to assess the situation. In difficult times it is important to coordinate all decisions within the EU.
In February, the EU Commission proposed suspending tariffs on imports from Ukraine for another year. The EU states must agree to a renewed extension. The trade facilitation is currently in force until June. They are intended to help the country’s economy. In order to prevent negative consequences for farmers from the EU, however, a new protection mechanism is planned, as the EU Commission announced. In case of doubt, certain tariffs should be able to be reintroduced quickly.