Polandʼs Minister of Agriculture Czeslaw Sekerskyi announced the strengthening of control over the export of agricultural products from Ukraine. This is happening against the background of plans by local farmers to block checkpoints for Ukrainian trucks with agricultural products again.
"Excessive imports of agricultural products from Ukraine, which do not meet the requirements for production in force in the EU, threaten the competitiveness of Polish agriculture," says the message of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.
On February 4, the minister visited two checkpoints on the border with Ukraine — in Korchova and Medytsia. At the second checkpoint, he spoke with representatives of the "Deceived Village" farming organization regarding increased inspections. It is this organization that has been blocking checkpoints with Ukraine since the end of November 2023.
Yesterday, February 3, Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture Michal Kolodziejczak was at the checkpoint on the border with Ukraine. He conducted inspections and spoke with local officials, and complained about the quality of the products, which were "subject to embargoes."
Polish farmers and politicians say that Ukraine has started exporting to the European market a large amount of meat, eggs, honey, grain and oil, which are not produced according to European standards. Such products are cheaper and allegedly worse in quality, and therefore cause losses to local farmers who have to produce products according to EU rules.
- Earlier, Polish farmers also announced a new nationwide strike — they plan to block all border crossings between Poland and Ukraine from February 9 to March 10.
- On January 31, the European Commission officially proposed to extend for a year, until mid-2025, the duty-free regime for exports from Ukraine. However, it is not as liberal as in the previous two years and takes into account the peculiarities of EU farmers. The new autonomous trade measures actually provide for the introduction of quotas for the most sensitive products — poultry, eggs and sugar. If the import of these products exceeds the average annual import volumes for 2022 and 2023, duties will be imposed on them. The proposal of the European Commission should be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
- Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary demanded that the European Union introduce import duties on grain from Ukraine. The European Commission refused them, but spoke of plans to introduce additional guarantees to limit the export of Ukrainian food.
- Ukraine, for its part, has changed the rules for exporting agricultural products to the above-mentioned five EU countries. For violations, entrepreneurs will be deprived of verification for six months.
- Neighbors, however, are not satisfied with this. Hungarian farmers have also planned a protest on February 9 at the Zahon — Chop checkpoint. They also oppose the decision of the European Commission, which will extend the duty-free import of Ukrainian products for another year.