Ukraine announced this Monday that it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against three countries of the European Union – Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – for prolonging the embargo on the import of Ukrainian grains despite the lifting of restrictions by from Brussels.
“For us it is essential to define that Member States cannot, individually, prohibit the import of Ukrainian products,” explained the Ukrainian Minister of Economy, Iulia Svyrydenko, in a statement.
“That’s why we brought charges against them,” he added.
At the end of April, the European Commission authorized five Member States (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania) to ban the marketing of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflowers to protect their farmers.
Following the lifting of European Union (EU) customs duties in May 2022, these five countries have seen an influx of cheap grain from Ukraine, which has been deprived of its markets in Africa and the Middle East by the invasion Russia, which has stopped its ships in Black Sea ports.
On Friday, Brussels ended this temporary embargo, considering that the “market distortions” caused by the influx of Ukrainian grain had “disappeared.”
Defying the decision of the European Commission, in charge of defining the common commercial policy of the community bloc, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia immediately announced that they would unilaterally maintain the embargo.
“We hope that these countries will lift their restrictions and that we will not have to go to court for a long period to resolve our conflict,” the Ukrainian Economy Minister highlighted in her statement.
Bulgaria agreed to lift the embargo in the name of “solidarity with Ukraine,” while Romania initially “regretted Brussels’ decision, but refrained from taking unilateral measures.”
However, this Monday, the Romanian Prime Minister, the socialist Marcel Ciolacu, declared in Bucharest that his country could extend the ban on importing grain from Ukraine for 30 days.
Ciolacu indicated that so far there have been no requests for the export of Ukrainian grains to Romania since the European Commission lifted the embargo.
“If there are requests, I will ask the Minister of Agriculture and Economy to issue a joint order to extend the ban for a period of 30 days,” the prime minister said.
After speaking with the Ukrainian Government over the weekend, Ciolacu stated that kyiv promised to send him a proposal for new export licenses this Monday.
The European Commission has called for the development of a licensing system for the export of cereals in the EU with four agricultural products banned.
Ukraine has 72 hours to draw up a plan of measures and, within 30 days, it must discuss new export licenses with each of the affected neighboring countries.
For its part, Warsaw has already announced that it will maintain the embargo on Ukrainian grains, despite the complaint presented by kyiv to the WTO and despite the end of the restrictions announced by Brussels on Friday.
“We maintain our position, we believe it is fair, it is also the result of an economic analysis and the powers derived from community and international law,” Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller told Polsat News television, adding: “The complaint to the WTO does not impress us.”
Source: TSF
