Ban on Ukrainian grain imports remains despite EU’s decision
The European Commission introduced new measures to try and ensure a stable flow of Ukrainian agricultural products to the rest of the Union without disruptions for the farmers of Kyiv’s neighbouring countries. The first measure entails that all existing initiatives, including the ban on Ukrainian grain imports, would expire on Friday 15 September. However, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia decided to unilaterally extend it.
As a countermove, Ukraine is ready to sue the three countries at the World Trade Organisation, an initiative that was already announced at the beginning of September. As mentioned by Ukraine’s Trade Representative Taras Kachka to Politico, Kyiv is also ready to “retaliate against Polish fruit and vegetable exports”.
As Kachka pointed out, Slovakia is the only country of the three who is just extending the ban on four types of grain. Poland added bans on flour and feed imports for Ukraine over the weekend, while Hungary banned 25 additional food products, including meat, without previous discussions. The countries imposing the ban claim to be doing so to protect their farmers, but Kamcha stated that it might look more like a political statement against Ukraine.
The Commission’s new measures
Other than an end to the ban, which is clearly being ignored, the EC is introducing more measures to try and improve the situation. First, any legal measure planned by Ukraine concerning grain will have to be submitted “within 30 days to avoid grain surges”. Until then, Kyiv needs to come up with an Action Plan “to control the export of 4 groups of goods in order to prevent any market distortions in the neighbouring Member States”. The deadline for this Action Plan is set for today.
The next measure is perhaps the most abstract of the package since it claims that the EC and Ukraine will monitor the situation to be able to react to any unforeseen situations. The fifth and final measure introduced by the EC is that no further restrictions will be imposed as long as the Action Plan is “in place and fully working”. RailFreight.com reached out to EC spokespersons to get more information on the Action Plan and what happens if the deadline is missed, but no answer has been provided as of yet.
The ban on Ukrainian grain imports
Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia were the first countries to implement a ban, which was approved by the EC, on the import of various Ukrainian food products in April. The ban was supposed to be lifted on 15 September, but Ukraine’s European neighbours were asking for an extension if the Commission did not intervene. This proposal was also backed by the EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, who was in favour of extending the ban until the end of this year. On the other hand, Ukraine defined the ban as ridiculous and threatened legal action if the ban were to be extended, which is what happened.
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