By KYIV. Jan 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The National Association of Sugar Beet Producers of Poland demands the introduction of sugar quotas for Ukraine and said it will join the nationwide farmers’ protest planned for January 24, 2024, according to the association’s website.
“After the introduction of autonomous trade measures (ATM), unrestricted imports of sugar from Ukraine to the EU in 2022/23 skyrocketed 20 times, and in the 2023/24 season these volumes could be up to 35 times higher than during 2022/23, when the quotas established in the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement were abolished,” the association said.
The association also said that the prospect of expanding acreage and sugar production in 2024/25 would affect Ukraine’s export capabilities by approximately 20%, which would exceed 1 million tonnes.
“The scale of the increase in imports is disproportionately large in relation to the possibilities for using additional sugar, distorts competition and destabilizes the Union market. The sugar sector cannot cope with the unprecedented increase in imports and operate stably in the short and medium term,” Polish producers said.
Ukraine’s export potential increased 16-fold after the introduction of autonomous trade measures, and probably even more in the absence of tariffs.
The association is convinced that maintaining the status quo in trade relations with Ukraine is unacceptable for local sugar beet producers, since they must rely on the principles of partnership and respect the interests of both parties, which is not happening now.
The association insists on the introduction of tools to protect Polish producers from the adverse consequences of unrestricted imports of Ukrainian sugar, while maintaining the necessary level of support for Ukrainian citizens.
“Actions aimed at helping Ukrainian citizens overcome the consequences of the war resulting from Russian aggression are extremely important. However, for the future recovery of Ukraine it is also important to maintain some access to third-country markets to avoid Ukraine’s dependence solely on exports to the EU,” the association said.
Polish sugar producers called on the European Commission to introduce mechanisms that would effectively protect the markets of member states, in particular the markets of front-line countries, from a further increase in sugar imports from Ukraine and its adverse consequences for the profitability of agricultural production and the functioning of farms in Poland.
