Brussels, 24/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - In a letter address to the Hungarian Minister for Agriculture, Mr Torgyan, the European Commissioner Franz Fischler sent a warning to Hungary which banned, without respecting the consultation procedure foreseen by the Europe Agreement, corn exports. Fischler feels that the Hungarian attitude could lead to a deterioration of bilateral relations with the European Union in the agriculture sector. If this problem is not rapidly resolved, Mr Fischler intends to react with vigour during his next visit to Hungary (from 30 November to 1 December). In the immediate, he decided to freeze the agreement that has just been negotiated in view of granting access, without customs duties, to 450,000 hectolitres of Hungarian wine. The entry into force of this agreement, on 1 January 2001, could be delayed (the present agreement that covers a customs franchise for 350,000 hl expires at the end of this year).
On request from the Commission, technical talks took place on 22 November, but the Hungarian authorities have not brought any sufficient justification to their decisions to ban exports of corn. They explain this measure through a worse harvest than foreseen and by needs in the internal market while it seems - according to Commission sources - that Hungary has an exportable surplus of around 500,000 tonnes. The case is important to the extent that the ban prevents Hungarian operators from honouring their deliveries to Community companies that supply themselves from this market. This source of supply is important for EU companies as it concerns superior quality corn, without genetically modified organisms, aims at being processed for human consumption. It seems that the decision is motivated by the fact that the price agreed with Hungarian operators, at a time when they expected better harvests, does not satisfy the completely today. An official consultation took place, this Friday, in the framework of the Association Council