LONDON (AP) — 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.Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, reacted by saying that his government will extend its own the ban on Ukrainian grain, regardless of any lack of consent from the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm.
“We are defending the interests of farmers, so now that Brussels has decided to no longer maintain the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, our country will do so under national competence and even extend it to a wider range of products,” said Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy.
It also will introduce proposals — for example, an export licensing system — within 30 days to avoid grain surges, the EU said. In a turnaround, Bulgaria lawmakers on Thursday approved resuming imports of Ukrainian food products. Finance Minister Asen Vassilev says the ban has deprived the government of tax revenue and led to higher food prices.
In July, Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukraine to ship grain safely through the Black Sea. Routes through neighboring countries have become the primary way for Ukraine — a major global supplier of wheat, barley, corn and vegetable oil — to export its commodities to parts of the world struggling with hunger.
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