Five EU countries call on European Commission to return duties on Ukrainian grain

Five countries of the European Union (EU) - Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary - are demanding that the European Commission reintroduce import duties on grain from Ukraine. The reason is allegedly unfair competition.

This was stated by Hungarian Minister of Agriculture István Nagy, the press service of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture reports. "That is why Brussels should take measures that will protect the markets of the member states bordering Ukraine and at the same time enable them to use their export potential. One such option could be to impose tariffs on the most sensitive agricultural products," he said.

He also added that Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary share a common position aimed at ensuring that Ukrainian agricultural exports do not have a negative impact on the European market.

"Therefore, Brussels must also ensure that EU agricultural standards are applied consistently to all products offered to European consumers. We call on the European Commission to present a report on the compliance of Ukraine's production standards with EU agricultural standards," Nagy added.

On September 15, 2023, the European Commission announced that it would not extend the restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine to five neighboring EU countries (Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) with some conditions to avoid a new surge in supplies.

What do we know about the situation

The restrictions were introduced in May 2023 and applied to imports of wheat, rapeseed, sunflower and corn. The above countries argued that Ukrainian agricultural products, when imported duty-free to the EU, settle in their countries and harm the local agricultural sector.

After the restrictions were lifted, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia introduced unilateral bans. Poland expanded its list of banned products to include rapeseed cake and meal, as well as corn bran, wheat flour, and derivatives. Hungary has expanded the list to 24 commodity items.

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