Poland warns it will unilaterally impose a ban on Ukrainian grain

Poland is ready to introduce a unilateral ban on agricultural products imported from Ukraine if the EU decides not to extend existing protective measures, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said recently.

“On April 15, we introduced a ban and if necessary, we will have to do it [again],” Mr. Telus said on the sidelines of a meeting of EU agriculture ministers on July 25.

Mr Telus’ comments come after heated discussions over whether to extend the current ban on some Ukrainian agricultural goods, designed to appease frontline countries, which unilaterally imposed their own bans in April after an influx of Ukrainian agricultural products put pressure on their farmers.

The current deal involves trade restrictions on four commodities – wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds – originating from Ukraine and is due to end on September 15.

But a coalition of frontline member states – including Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia – has joined forces to push for this to be extended until the end of the year.

“I hope that this ban will be extended, but if not, Poland will still have to solve the problem and we have proven that we can do that,” Telus warned.

According to Mr. Telus, the five countries also received support from the Baltic states and Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia proposed to use their ports to transport grain from Ukraine.

Minister Telus noted that this would only be an import ban on Poland, explaining that the country would continue to support the transit of Ukrainian agricultural goods through the country. “What we are doing is not against anyone, but for our farmers,” he said.

Poland's Agriculture Minister stressed that he hopes the country will not have to resort to unilateral solutions announced earlier by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

The decision to temporarily extend trade restrictions on some agricultural products by five EU member states has angered Ukraine, which is demanding that the issue be "depoliticized" and not extended again.

According to Tin Tuc Newspaper