Ukraine has called on EU countries to stop the imposed import blockade of agricultural products to five EU neighboring countries. This arrangement expires on June 5. Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture and Food Mykola Solskyi hinted on Tuesday in Brussels that Kyiv might resort to filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) if necessary.
This temporary import ban was imposed by the European Commission after Poland and Romania initiated a border blockade to protect their own agricultural sector from an abundance of Ukrainian imports. Brussels promised compensation to agriculture in those countries and “legalized” the blockade of Ukrainian agricultural products. Whether this is allowed is doubted by some legal experts.
Thirteen EU countries, including the Netherlands, had asked Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski for clarification. Among them were virtually all major agricultural exporting countries.
Using data on imports and exports from 2021 and 2022, Commissioner Wojciechowski tried to demonstrate that Ukrainian “exports” to Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria increased “disproportionately,” and that the complaints in those countries were therefore well-founded.
Solskyi said his country is doing everything to ensure transit through the neighboring countries proceeds as smoothly as possible. He urged the EU to wait for the coming week and see if conditions improve by early June. In that case, an extension after June 5 may not be necessary.
The Ukrainian minister has requested patience for progress to be made, and although he assured that he prefers to avoid “difficult situations,” he does not rule out resorting to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
“This is not the way,” the Ukrainian minister assured the EU agriculture ministers. He pointed out that Russia still tries in various ways to obstruct Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea.
In line with Solskyi, the ministers of 13 EU countries have expressed their “serious concern” about the import ban on corn, wheat, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine. They believe this “leads to differential treatment within the internal market.”
Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski said the European Commission is not prepared to lift the measures now because this would cause significant (storage) problems in the five neighboring countries. These countries expect harvests that also need to be processed, transported, and sold. However, he stated that the European Commission is willing to reassess the situation in October.