Five EU states agree deal on Ukraine food exports: Commission

Brussels: The European Commission announced on Friday that Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have reached an agreement to permit the transit of Ukrainian food exports, which had previously been temporarily banned due to farmer protests. The five EU countries had imposed the measures citing concerns that grain from Ukraine meant to be exported to other countries had ended up in their local markets, which was pushing down prices for local farmers. Russia’s invasion has severely limited the traditional export channel of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, necessitating export overland via Ukraine’s neighbours. Member states agreed to allow the import of certain products from Ukraine without quantitative restrictions, and without customs and official inspections. But farmers in Ukraine’s neighbours Hungary, Poland and Slovakia protested after a slump in prices, prompting a raft of restrictions and bans on Ukraine’s food exports in response. “(The) EU Commission has reached an agreement in principle with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia regarding Ukraine agri-food products,” EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted.

🤝WE HAVE A DEAL🤝@EU_Commission has reached an agreement in principle with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania & Slovakia regarding  #Ukraine agri-food products.

We have acted to address concerns of both farmers in neighbouring EU countries and Ukraine 🇪🇺🇺🇦 - with @jwojc
🧵1/3 pic.twitter.com/qNP93X1Fpd

— Valdis Dombrovskis (@VDombrovskis) April 28, 2023

The deal will see the lifting of “unilateral measures by Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. Exceptional safeguard measures for… wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower seed (and) a 100 million euros ($110 million) support package for affected farmers in (the) five Member States”. “We have acted to address concerns of both farmers in neighbouring EU countries and Ukraine.” As soon as the Polish ban was announced, Ukrainian sunflower oil manufacturers stopped buying seeds for lack of a guarantee of being able to export their production to the EU. The tensions between Kyiv and its European neighbours arose as uncertainty looms over the scheduled May 18 renewal of a deal ensuring the Black Sea grain corridor is operational. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.