On Sunday evening, consultations between the countries of the European Union and the European Commission on agricultural products from Ukraine ended. “The meeting was constructive. We believe the talks are moving in a positive direction, said Poland’s Permanent Representative to the EU Andrzej Sadoś.
In our opinion, the EC is open to the arguments of the Member States. We rate the EC’s position as constructive. The discussion was based on a joint letter from the agriculture ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria to the Commission on Friday. Poland has further raised the issue of products not included in this list
Sados told PAP.
Special protection procedure
In the letter, the ministers of five countries included a list of products that they believe should be subject to a special protection procedure in the EU. This means their imports from Ukraine to five member states may be banned and they must be re-routed to other markets via the EU. According to PAP information, Poland wants to add applesauce and concentrates to this list.
The EC – as PAP discovered – is open to adding additional items to the list. Technical issues are yet to be agreed, eg presentation of data on transport costs, information on storage problems and in the case of fruit, space problems in cold stores.
Member States questioned the duration of the agreement and indicated that it should be in force at least until the end of the year.
The ministers of agriculture of Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary wrote to the EC on the necessary measures to be taken to avoid disruptions in the markets of the EU Member States most affected by increased imports of agricultural products. and food products from Ukraine.
The letter has been sent to the Vice-President of the European Commission, EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.
Good direction, but more is needed
The ministers note that the proposals made so far by the European Commission to solve the problem of growing imports of agricultural products from Ukraine go in the right direction, but are not enough.
We believe that the proposed exceptional safeguard to allow imports only for transit to the rest of the EU and the rest of the world should apply to a wider range of products than wheat, maize, rapeseed or sunflower seeds . We propose to also expand the range with sunflower oil, flour, honey, sugar, soft fruit, eggs, meat, milk and dairy products
said the letter.
Representatives of five countries wrote that the continuation of these measures should be guaranteed after the expiry of the current regulation on the elimination of tariffs on goods from Ukraine, which will happen in June.
Ministers also noted that the second aid package currently being prepared as part of the agricultural reserve for member states bordering or adjacent to Ukraine is a necessary addition to the exceptional protection measures.
The letter stressed that in parallel with the implementation of the above actions, discussions should continue on other actions that could contribute to reducing the current problems and preventing similar problems in the future.
gah/PAP
Source: wPolityce