Imports of cheap Ukrainian grain are causing significant problems for farmers from the Visegrad Four (V4) countries (Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary), and the only effective solution to the difficult situation is to reintroduce import duties and quotas on Ukrainian farm commodities, representatives of farm and food self-governments of the V4 countries concurred at their joint meeting in Brno in the Czech Republic on Tuesday.
Matej Korpas of the Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber's (SPPK) press department told TASR that V4 farmers still have millions of tonnes of grain from the old harvest in their barns, which they are unable to sell at reasonable prices. The new harvest is already "at the door", so V4 farm and food organisations, along with representatives of similar organisations from Croatia and Romania, have called on the European Commission to resume import duties and quotas for farm and food products as soon as possible. They don't want such measures to be scrapped before Ukraine becomes an EU member. This should help to deal with the dramatic situation even before the new harvest.
"The Union's intention was definitely correct, but practice has gradually put our farmers in a situation with which they can hardly cope. If we really don't want to destroy our farm and food industry, we must adopt fundamental Europe-wide solutions to protect domestic producers. If the Union decides that Ukraine will cover Europe's food needs, it will be necessary to bring Ukraine into the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, with all the consequences and standards that apply here today," said SPPK chairman Emil Macho.
Slovakia advocates a pan-European solution to problems caused on the EU common market by the influx of cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine, interim Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Samuel Vlcan stated after a session of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Luxembourg on Tuesday. TASR learnt of the news from its correspondent in Brussels.
Vlcan underlined that Slovakia has found itself, through no fault of its own, in a "trade war" in the wake of the lifting of tariffs on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the EU. "Agriculture ministers were warning and advocating prudence in the lifting of tariffs because we had quotas in the past. Decisions made by the European Commission weren't really thought out well," he said, adding that cheap Ukrainian grain that was supposed only to transit through Europe is now causing problems to Europeans.
"Only with the grain and the processing of oil plants alone, Slovak farmers recorded losses of about €200 million. That's why we were forced to implement our own protective measures at the border. But Slovakia has never blocked the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products," claimed Vlcan.
On Tuesday, the European Commission hinted that the payment of aid from the second compensation package worth a total of €100 million for the five EU countries concerned as well as the passing of additional support measures will be contingent on unilateral withdrawal of import bans on the Ukrainian products and guarantees that such bans won't be reintroduced in the future.
Vlcan added that the EU expects post-war Ukraine to gradually expand its cooperation with the EU into the agricultural sector and the countries need to get prepared for that first. In his view, this means the passing of a transitional period, so as to give time to Ukrainians to prepare for European norms.
"We have stringent and costly environmental rules in the EU on the growing of crops and breeding of livestock. We must explain to the Ukrainians that if they wish to have access to the open European market, they must implement the same rules as soon as possible," said Vlcan.
(TASR)
