Poland may introduce a temporary ban on imports of products from Ukraine

The Polish government authorized the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Minister of Development and Technology to prepare measures to protect local farmers and agricultural producers, including a temporary ban on imports of products from Ukraine. About it reported on the website of the Polish Cabinet.

The Council of Ministers of the country held a meeting to discuss measures to stabilize the agricultural market in Poland. “The Council of Ministers authorized the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Minister of Development and Technology to issue appropriate legal acts to protect the Polish agricultural market from destabilization, including a temporary ban on the import of agricultural and food products from Ukraine,” the government said in a statement.

January 30 on the website of the Council of Europe was published report, which stated that the sharply increased supply of Ukrainian grain to the EU markets could lead to serious difficulties for European agricultural producers, especially in countries neighboring Ukraine. The report was prepared by the representatives of Poland and was also presented on behalf of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia.

The document noted that due to simplified exports, the supply of Ukrainian products to neighboring countries increased in some cases by thousands of times, which led to overcrowding of warehouses and difficulties for local producers.

March 23 Polish Radio RMF reported about the protests of farmers in the city of Szczecin (Poland). They demanded a settlement of the issue of Ukrainian grain and a meeting with the prime minister of the republic, Mateusz Morawiecki, and the minister of agriculture, Henryk Kowalczyk.

On March 31, the Prime Ministers of Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia appealed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with a request to intervene in the crisis caused by the influx of Ukrainian grain. Then the ministers said that in their countries there were problems with the development of excess grain in warehouses, which led to market destabilization.

The European Commission (EC) has extended the duty-free import of Ukrainian grains to the EU until June 2024. Against this background, Polish Minister of Agriculture Henryk Kowalczyk resigned.