Poland will have to lift embargo on Ukrainian products
18 January 2024 16:05
The European Commission has refused the Polish government’s request to restore quotas for some Ukrainian goods. This was reported by Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Seckerski to the Polish edition of Business Insider, it reports .
“The problem of negative consequences of imports from Ukraine is increasingly noticed by Western European countries and concerns a wider range of products than just cereals. In particular France, Austria and Germany are talking about threats to markets for grain, poultry, fruit and sugar. These countries say that tariff quotas, which are now suspended under EU rules, should be reinstated. Poland supports these demands, we asked the European Commission to restore tariff quotas on some sensitive products, but this was rejected by the EC”,
– the minister said.
Sekersky believes that the opening of the European market for agricultural products from Ukraine may completely destabilise not only the domestic market, but also the European market in the future. He stresses that 3/4 of Ukrainian grain exports went to Ukraine’s neighbouring countries, which caused serious disruptions in the market. In addition, there were internal conditions, i.e. falling purchase prices for agricultural products with a simultaneous increase in purchase prices. All this continues to affect the functioning of agriculture in Poland.
The Minister is not going to stop fighting Ukrainian imports. He will continue to consult with European officials and those European leaders who are also concerned about the situation. Polish officials have already come up with a defence mechanism that they want to apply to circumvent the future EU decision to extend duty-free trade with Ukraine. We are talking about the possibility of regional restrictions in specific countries.
“The Ministry of Agrarian Policy puts forward its requirements to the decree, among which are…. the possibility of applying regional protective measures, if the market problem concerns not the entire EU, but a separate member state or region,”
– sekersky stated.
At the same time, the Ukrainian side is trying to resolve problematic issues in its relations with Poland. In particular, Ukraine offered Poland a mechanism for licensing Ukrainian agricultural products. The Polish minister claims that such a solution, “with the appropriate support of the European Commission”, could be acceptable. The parties are now working on this issue.
Preferential trade regime and its opponents
The European Commission may one of these days extend the favourable trade regime with Ukraine, which, among other things, provides for free and quota-free imports of Ukrainian products into the EU. However, this norm is disliked by too many EU members, which may influence the outcome of this decision and its final provisions.
In particular, a number of Eastern European countries are demanding that the EU impose an import duty on Ukrainian grain, citing unfair competition. The agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have sent a letter to the European Commission requesting action, saying cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine are eating into their export markets.
Read more about it in our article The fate of free export of Ukrainian goods to the EU is being decided: who is against?
Meanwhile, Polish hauliers have unblocked the border with Ukraine.