EU in talks with neighbors on removing Ukrainian grain import restrictions
Photo: Twitter/European Commission
The European Commission continues intensive negotiations with Ukraine and five neighboring countries on the fate of preventive measures regarding importing Ukrainian grain to these EU countries, the term of which expires on September 15.
Ukrinform reports, citing the spokeswoman of the European Commission for Trade and Agriculture, Miriam Garcia Ferrer, during a briefing on Thursday in Brussels.
"Now, predicting what will happen after September 15 is a little premature. We can say that we are following the situation very closely. We are checking the import figures that are published every month… And we are in constant and regular contact with the five neighboring countries, and we are trying to make sure that we can export grain from Ukraine and improve the transport situation to make this possible," she said.
The spokeswoman recalled introducing these restrictive measures "to give us time to solve these problems and find a solution so that grain can be exported from Ukraine."
According to her, a solution is currently being sought with a special coordination platform, which has already been met five times.
"On this coordination platform, we have Ukraine, as well as Moldova, if necessary, and five neighboring countries, which are discussing with the European Commission how to improve the bandwidth of the solidarity lanes," said García Ferrer.
She pointed out the importance of solving logistical problems and ensuring the continuation of full solidarity and support of Ukraine to ensure that "the grain reaches its destination, either in the EU or on world markets, as this is a critical condition for ensuring food security."
As reported, on May 25, the Council of the EU approved the regulation to extend the duty-free trade regime between the EU and Ukraine, which extends the suspension of all customs duties, quotas, and trade protection measures on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, until June 2024.
The blockade of the Black Sea ports by the Russian Federation led to a sharp increase in the volume of transportation of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural goods by land through the "solidarity lanes" on the borders with neighboring countries, which significantly affected the domestic market of these countries and caused protests from local farmers.
On April 28, the European Commission agreed on to implement a package of measures with four neighboring countries of Ukraine — Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia — after the mentioned countries canceled their individual actions against agricultural imports from Ukraine. This package limits import to the territory of the mentioned countries and Romania of four critical products from Ukraine — wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower. However, it preserves the possibility of transit of such goods to other EU countries and the world market.
The effect of these temporary protective measures to limit the import of Ukrainian grain to the five mentioned EU countries should be completed by September 15, 2023.
