Agriculture ministers from Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia have written a letter to the European Commission (EC) regarding agricultural products from Ukraine, according to sources cited by the Polish Press Agency. The import ban that had been in place did not apply to goods imported under contracts signed before the EU regulation came into force.
In the letter, the ministers expressed their appreciation for the agreement negotiated with the EC and the steps taken to mitigate the effects of increased imports of agricultural and food products from Ukraine. However, they felt that the solutions implemented by the EC may not be sufficient. They requested confirmation from the EC that preventive measures on four products would be extended until the end of this year.
Furthermore, the ministers indicated that the losses incurred by farmers in their countries far exceeded the proposed level of support. As such, they appealed to the EC to adjust the level of support to actual losses and to deploy additional funds.
On April 28th, the EC reached an agreement with the aforementioned countries on Ukrainian agri-food products, and on May 2nd, it announced the adoption of temporary preventive measures regarding imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine. Meanwhile, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia have committed to lift unilateral measures concerning these and all other products originating from Ukraine. Nevertheless, grains from Ukraine can still be transported through the territories of these five countries.