The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are calling on the European Commission to increase controls on Ukrainian grain exports to the EU as part of a solution to the grain conflict with Ukraine. Ukrainian grain that goes to the world market via European countries is still too often sold in Europe itself, they complain.
Now that Russian blockades and threats have largely paralyzed grain exports via the Black Sea, Ukraine wants to export more via Europe. This has led to friction with neighboring countries such as Poland and Slovakia, which say their own farmers are suffering from the influx of cheap Ukrainian grain. Although the intention is that this grain in these countries will only be transported to the world market, according to them, too large a portion still ends up on the local market.
Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have independently imposed import restrictions on Ukrainian grain for these reasons. This greatly irritated Kyiv, which has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization. The European Commission no longer supports such restrictions.
The Czech Minister of Agriculture, speaking today with his counterparts from the three countries, called for a Europe-wide approach to the transit of Ukrainian grain. This requires strict checks to ensure that Ukrainian grain is indeed not sold in European countries. For example, he advocated a deposit system: traders in Ukrainian grain would have to pay a deposit, which they would only get back once it has been determined that their grain has left Europe.
Niels Waarlo
Also read this explanation piece: Weapons or grain, or both: what are Poland and Ukraine actually arguing about?
2023-09-26 17:26:15
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