In a letter sent to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday 13 October, four organisations representing the interests of Romanian farmers call strongly “for the reintroduction of a ban on imports of cereals and oilseeds from Ukraine from 23 October 2023” in countries close to Ukraine.
In mid-September, the European Commission decided to lift the safeguard measures on Ukrainian cereals, but Poland, Hungary and Slovakia maintained these restrictions (see EUROPE 13252/2).
Romanian farmers are also calling for “an increase in transit routes and the establishment of a quantitative quota for each product, on each transit route”, as well as tighter controls “so that agricultural products in transit do not remain within the borders in silos where farmers would have to store their crops”.
According to statistics published by the European Commission, the situation regarding imports from Ukraine “continues to pose a major threat to farmers in neighbouring countries, who are on the verge of bankruptcy”, reads the letter, as seen by EUROPE.
Total cereal imports into the EU from Ukraine for the period January-August 2023 amount to 11.4 million tonnes, which is +57% compared to the same period last year and +257% compared to the same period in 2021, before trade liberalisation.
In addition, an enlarged Visegrad group (including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) is considering additional measures (this group of countries is not calling for a new import ban).
For example, these countries believe that trade with Ukraine should be subject to ‘refundable deposits’. The cost of these deposits would be borne by the owner of the goods responsible for transporting them when they enter the EU. The deposit would be calculated per tonne of the goods in question. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)