By KYIV. June 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Commission on Monday agreed to support the extension until September 15 of restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine to some EU countries, considering that the problems provoked by such imports have not yet been overcome.
The relevant regulation has been published in the Official Journal of the EU. It takes effect immediately. The document states that the decision will be valid until September 15, 2023.
The decision concerns Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. These countries are not allowed to import wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds from Ukraine.
In contrast to the previous decision of May 2, the new regulation no longer allows the supply of these grains and oilseeds to the markets of these countries under contracts concluded before May 2.
“However, that limitation does not affect the movement of those goods in or via Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania or Slovakia under the customs transit procedure,” says the resolution signed by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
“The assessment showed that important logistical bottlenecks still remain. In particular, infrastructure in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia remains insufficient to handle the surge in traffic, notably at the borders between Ukraine and those member states. Equipment is still urgently needed and storage capacity is scarce, resulting in high logistics costs, while there is also a high risk of insufficient storage capacities in the affected member states,” the document reads.
“In order to swiftly address the exceptional circumstances rendering this regulation necessary, a Joint Coordination Platform has been set up to coordinate the efforts of the commission, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, as well as Ukraine and Moldova to improve the flow of trade between the Union and Ukraine including transit along corridors of agricultural products,” it says.
“The Joint Coordination Platform will deliver operational solutions to improve procedures, infrastructure and logistic bottlenecks between Ukraine and the Union by, accelerating and improving control procedures at borders, better coordinated transit, enhanced infrastructure and lowered overall logistics costs, thereby ensuring that wheat, maize, rapeseed (colza) and sunflower seed originating in Ukraine can move deeper into the Union and beyond as needed,” according to the report.
“It is reasonable to expect that the work conducted in the context of the Joint Coordination Platform will translate into improvements in the course of the coming months. As joint solutions emerge to address the exceptional circumstances … it will be possible to let the preventive measures under this regulation expire by September 2023,” it says.
