Offer of five ministers of agriculture. It is about Ukrainian grain

Offer of five ministers of agriculture. It is about Ukrainian grain

Support mechanism, which automatically triggers if the import of a certain product from Ukraine increases above the expected level or joint procurement of grain by the EU from Ukraine in order to transfer to other countries, is provided for by the offer of five ministers of agriculture for The European Commission, which was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Ministry informed that on Friday the heads of the agricultural ministries of Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary, sent a joint message to the European Commission about the necessary actions, which are unavoidable to use in order to resist countering market distortions in the community countries, which bear a burden of the consequences of increased imports of agricultural products and food from Ukraine. Letter was sent to Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis and Agricultural Commissioner Janush Wojciechowski.

“Agricultural ministers again declare about rising imports of agricultural products from Ukraine, which evokes significant market distortions and harms EU agricultural producers, especially in countries that border or that are close to the Ukrainian border. They point out that they do not agree with the case in which the whole burden of working on increasing imports is lying only on several EU countries.”

According to the letter signatories, an offer of the EU about emergency protective measure, which consists in allowing imports only for transit to other EU countries and the rest of the world, has not to be limited to wheat, corn, canola and sunflower seeds. In five EU ministers’ mind, this field should be expanded by adding other products. Furthermore, the validity of these measures has to be guaranteed after the expiry of the current regulation on autonomous commercial measures (ATM) as well. It is believed by the signatories of the letter that cancelling these measures may be considered only after the stability’s restoration on the market in the counties that border or that are located close to the border with Ukraine.

Ministers are also encouraging the Commission to complete work on the second support package from the agricultural reserve for member states bordering or located near the border with Ukraine as soon as possible and to implement it without undue delay.

The signatories of the letter also suggested other actions, which, among others, might prevent similar difficulties in the future.

Ministers suggest establishing a support mechanism that automatically triggers if the import of certain product from Ukraine increases above the expected level. They also want to develop a joint EU decision that would ensure procurement of Ukrainian grain and, if it is necessary, another agricultural production in order to distribution to developing countries that are at risk of food insecurity.

The ministry added that the signatories of the letter ask the EC to prepare an offer about the instrument that will facilitate the export of Ukrainian goods that are already present on or near the borders of the member states. It is also about the application of the mechanism of forced delivery of goods to the destinations that were declared in transit declarations.

 Translated by Maxim Malienko

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