EU lets Ukrainian grain ban expire even as countries threaten to pass their own
abcnews.go.comThe European Union has decided not to renew a ban on Ukrainian food imports heading to nearby countries
LONDON — The European Union on Friday decided not to renew a ban on Ukrainian food heading to nearby countries that have complained that an influx of agricultural products from the war-torn nation has hurt their farmers.
The move sets up a clash with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, which have said that food coming from Ukraine has become stuck within their borders, creating a glut that has driven down prices for local farmers and hurt their livelihoods. The issue threatens European unity on supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
Bulgaria, while part of the original ban, decided this week to allow in Ukrainian imports again to bring down food prices.
“The market distortions” have disappeared, according to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm. Ukraine has agreed to put measures in place starting Saturday to control the export of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds to neighboring EU countries, the commission said in a statement.
It also will introduce proposals — for example, an export licensing system — within 30 days to avoid grain surges, the EU said.
The leaders of Poland and Hungary have threatened to adopt their own bans on Ukrainian agricultural products if the EU didn’t act.
Without an EU extension, “then several countries banding together in international cooperation — the Romanians, the Poles, the Hungarians and the Slovaks — are going to extend the import ban on a national level,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a radio interview on Friday.
Earlier this week, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that if the ban wasn’t renewed, “we will do it ourselves
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