The European Commission plans to make changes to EU trade legislation aimed at introducing restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products to countries bordering Ukraine. According to the information received from the magazine "Focus", Ukrainian farmers are faced with the question of whether there is a real threat of blocking Ukrainian agricultural products in the European Union.
European Commission Vice President for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said the European Commission's proposal would likely contain "country-specific safeguards" that would allow Brussels to block imports if a country's market is overcrowded. In addition, Poland has already reached certain agreements regarding Ukrainian agricultural products.
Are Ukrainian agricultural products threatened by import restrictions? The European Commission is considering the possibility of making changes to the EU trade legislation that may affect the import of Ukrainian agricultural products to neighboring countries. In a comment to the Financial Times, the European Commission's executive vice-president for trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, indicated that the impact of these measures on the EU market as a whole is not yet significant.
According to Dombrovskis, the uneven distribution of exports of Ukrainian agricultural goods is already felt most by the neighboring countries, while for the EU market in general it does not pose significant obstacles. The proposal, which spans a year and must be approved by the European Parliament and a majority of EU member states, calls for the introduction of "specific safeguard measures" by June 2025.
It was clarified that the possibility of establishing quotas for the import of poultry meat, sugar and eggs from Ukraine is also being considered, but no final decision on this issue has been made yet. Subsequently, it became known that Poland achieved some success in limiting the export of food from Ukraine to the EU.
According to the Financial Times, Valdis Dombrovskis said that a proposal to limit Ukrainian imports will be announced before the end of this week. Probably, this proposal will involve the implementation of "specific measures" for each country, which will allow Brussels to block imports in case the market of a certain country is saturated with Ukrainian food.
Dombrovskis noted that the European Commission is considering the possibility of providing additional guarantees to Poland and other member states, and one of the ways of this could be the introduction of protective measures for specific countries. It was also announced that negotiations on mutual trade liberalization would begin, and Dombrovskis called on Kyiv to lower its own trade barriers to promote exports to the EU, taking into account negotiations on possible accession to the community.
The European Commissioner also emphasized that the proposal for duty-free trade must be approved by the European Parliament and the majority of EU member states.
Only transit: what can threaten Ukrainian exporters of agricultural products
Oleg Pendzyn, an expert of the Economic Discussion Club, revealed the essence of the European Commission's actions regarding restrictions on Ukrainian food exports.
"First of all, it is important to note that the proposal is not yet a final decision. Secondly, the restrictions do not apply to the EU market as a whole. In modern conditions, due to logistical features, there is an uneven distribution of Ukrainian agricultural products on the markets of specific EU countries. The largest volume of products accumulates at the entrance to the EU, which leads to the active squeezing out of local producers. Therefore, the representative of the European Commission on foreign trade proposed a mechanism of restrictions for specific countries. This means that these countries will have the right to set restrictions, given that the overall transit of Ukrainian agricultural products will remain unchanged. For example, if France is ready to accept chicken meat, and Poland is not, then Poland will only be a transit country for Ukrainian chicken meat that will pass through its territory. This is just one of the proposals, and a control mechanism will be developed for any of them," Pendzyn explained.
He also noted that such a scenario has already been recorded in modern conditions. At the moment, Ukrainian agricultural products transit through Poland, even though there are restrictions on the supply of Ukrainian agricultural products for Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian consumers, introduced as early as 2023.
"The initiators want to continue this mechanism, in which each specific country will have the opportunity to protect its internal market from Ukrainian agricultural products. It is emphasized that this does not involve the physical destruction of supplies. The point is to unevenly distribute these volumes among European countries, and consider this not a threat to the general EU market, but a problem for an individual country. Thus, for example, Poland will have a theoretical opportunity to protect its market," the expert added.
Meanwhile, Hryhoriy Shamrytskyi, head of the "My Land 2015" farm and head of the Farmers' Congress of the Poltava region, notes that Ukrainian farmers and agrarians have already concluded agreements on the volume of products, terms and conditions of delivery to the markets of various European countries.
"As a result of these changes, the volume of product deliveries to these markets will decrease, which may lead to a negative impact on prices and affect every farmer and producer. In such conditions, in my opinion, it is necessary not to limit our opportunities, but to help us expand the export of our products. It is during this important period for Ukraine that our neighboring countries can be partners in increasing the volume of supplies, and not in introducing restrictions. We already have a case when after the export of a small amount of goods by freight transport, the borders were blocked. And what will happen when we actively enter all international markets with our finished products?" - the farmer considers the situation.
At this time, Ukraine offered Poland to use the agricultural export control system, which is already successfully functioning with Romania and Bulgaria.
This was announced by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal during a joint briefing with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. In his speech, the Ukrainian Prime Minister emphasized that the issue of unhindered movement of goods across the border was discussed.
"We believe that this issue has been resolved today. The border has been unblocked, and our joint work has led to a positive result," Shmyhal noted.
The Prime Minister also emphasized that Ukraine has already expressed its commitment to do everything possible to avoid harm and support Polish farmers and transporters. In addition, Ukraine expressed hope that Poland will take measures to remove restrictions affecting Ukrainian farmers and producers.
"Ukraine offers a mechanism for verifying the export of agricultural products in accordance with the decision of the European Commission. This mechanism is already successfully functioning in cooperation with Romania and Bulgaria, and we propose to use it in our mutually beneficial relations," Shmyhal noted.
The Prime Minister also called on the European Commission to continue trade liberalization measures for Ukraine, as well as to take into account the liberalization of transportation.
