On Wednesday 10 January, six European associations representing producers and manufacturers in the sugar, cereals/oilseeds, poultry meat and egg sectors asked the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, to find solutions for better management of imports of agricultural products from Ukraine (see EUROPE 13324/10).
The organisations in question fear that renewing the Autonomous Trade Measures (ATM) mechanism with Ukraine as it stands could jeopardise “the survival of EU producers in general and, in particular, those in the cereals, oilseeds, poultry, eggs and sugar sectors”.
In particular, the associations are calling for additional efforts to ensure that products entering the internal market comply with phytosanitary standards, animal welfare standards and the use of antimicrobials, and for the creation of a system to ensure that the destination of all consignments of Ukrainian agricultural products is determined before they enter the EU.
Above all, they are calling for the introduction of “import thresholds” for sensitive agricultural products subject to trade liberalisation (cereals, sugar and poultry). These thresholds would be based on the annual average for the combined years 2021 and 2022. Any product imported above this threshold should be exported outside the EU and should therefore only be able to transit within the EU market, argue the associations (CEFS, CIBE, Copa-Cogeca, etc.). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)