All food products at the Ukrainian border will be checked, not just grain, Agriculture Minister Robert Telus assured Thursday in Szczecin. He added that ARMA will accept applications for farmers’ aid from Friday. The Agriculture Minister also said he had received demands from farmers protesting in Szczecin.
Grain Agreement
As you know, the first day of my nomination I called the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine at night. I met him and I have some agreements, I hope he will not deviate from these agreements and we will sign an agreement tomorrow (also about grain – PAP)
– said Agriculture Minister Robert Telus during a meeting with farmers in Szczecin on Thursday.
He added that “if we manage to sign this agreement, from tomorrow no more grain will be received, which will be unloaded in Poland.”
Food control
The minister said that the problem is not only grain, but also other food products flowing from Ukraine to the Polish market.
We need to talk about it, about those other products. I ordered (…) an inspection. I have spoken to the Ministry of Health because this is where the response and assistance of the Ministry of Health is needed. (…) All food products that will be at the Ukrainian border, I also mean poultry, yak, sugar, flour, all food products will be checked at the border
Telus emphasizes.
He admitted that his Ukrainian counterpart drew attention to the risk of queues at the border.
For me, the safety and health of the Poles is the most important thing. There is no possibility for such products to flow to Poland
– emphasized the Minister of Agriculture.
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture also assured that at the moment there is “no technical grain at the border”.
I guarantee no so-called technical grain at this point
– he said.
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EU actions in the field of customs
When asked by one of the farmers what will happen to the agreement with Ukraine after June this year, Telus said that it had agreed with its Ukrainian counterpart that it would be valid until July.
But we’re not closing the case. Therefore, at my request, I will meet tomorrow with the ministers of agriculture of the frontline countries: Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. We will apply the rate to the European Union
said the minister.
Applications for support to farmers
He also said that the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture (ARMA) will accept applications for support for farmers from Friday. It is about PLN 600 million, which should be allocated to the purchase of grains.
From tomorrow, applications will be accepted by ARMA, apply for these papers, for help from the PLN 600 million previously announced by Deputy Prime Minister Henryk Kowalczyk
announced the Minister of Agriculture.
As he argued, “this is another point (…) that we somehow manage to realize as soon as possible”.
On Saturday, the State Agency for Strategic Reserves announced that it had started buying consumer wheat exclusively from Polish producers. You can bid until April 14. On Tuesday, April 4, the parliamentary finance committee agreed to change the allocation of PLN 600 million from the earmarked reserve and transfer this amount to RARS.
The amount of PLN 600 million has been reserved for the purchase of grain as part of strategic reserves
– said the president of RARS Michał Kuczmierowski in the Sejm.
As previously announced by Deputy Prime Minister and former Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk, the money will be used to purchase grains – wheat and maize. This is part of the agreements that the government made with farmers during the ’round table’.
When asked by journalists after the meeting with farmers why he spoke of “hope” and not “certainty” in relation to the agreement with Ukraine, Minister Telus replied that the country has a “major role” in this agreement.
My wife and I have an arrangement where we trust each other a lot, but sometimes we check on each other, and it’s the same here. (…) We trust that it will work out, but (…) until I see it working well, really well, I will not jump that it is ready. I want to see results, not just that we have some sort of agreement
said the minister.
The minister assured journalists that if the agreement with Ukraine “does not work”, he will take appropriate measures.
I am talking about this application to the European Union so that the EU would review the customs issue from June
he noticed.
The social side submitted the demands
We will work together in working groups so that we can sign an agreement in a week or a week and a half, Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said in Szczecin on Thursday after meeting protesting farmers and receiving demands from them.
We received the demands of the demonstrators in Szczecin – there are twelve of them, they are already known to some extent, but we tried (during the meeting – PAP) to discuss some points. The protesting party behaves very substantively in these matters: it proposed to send us postulates today so that we can work together in working groups
– said Agriculture Minister Robert Telus on Thursday in Szczecin after a meeting with the West Pomeranian coordination team of agricultural unions and organizations.
He noted that not all demands are “feasible”, some “very difficult”, but that there will be negotiations in working groups to meet and sign an agreement in a week or a week and a half.
We have not only developed conclusions, but also proposals for the government (…). There are things that cost nothing, only goodwill, there are already prepared laws on our part
– said the vice-chairman of the NSZZ Individual Farmers “Solidarity” Edward Kosmal.
The twelve postulates presented by the social side cover issues such as the anti-crisis shield for family farms, the management of the agricultural assets of the treasury, the trade of agri-food products from Ukraine (including the elimination of the negative effects of uncontrolled imports of, among other cereals, maize and rapeseed), organizing domestic agricultural markets in relation to cereals, maize and rapeseed (according to farmers, “before the time of regulation of the situation in the internal markets” should introduce a total ban on grain imports from Ukraine , including a ban on transport through Polish ports), suspending the Green Deal and introducing a special agricultural fuel.
The visit of the Minister of Agriculture to Szczecin is related to the protest of farmers from Szczecin province, which has been going on since March 23. Western Pomeranian Voivodeship, which made demands including immediate closure of borders for the transport of agricultural products from abroad, assistance in repaying loans for agricultural activities and the introduction of an “anti-crisis shield” for agriculture.
Despite ongoing talks in Szczecin, farmers started driving tractors through the city center after meeting the minister.
wkt/PAP
Source: wPolityce