Poland has extended its ban on grain imports from Ukraine. From Friday to Saturday, provisions of a regulation came into force with no expiration date, banning the import of certain agricultural products into Poland, including wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower seeds, as well as meal from these cereals. The regulation is a response to the non-extension of the EU embargo.
On Friday, the European Commission (EC) did not extend the embargo on Ukrainian grain to five member states, including Poland. It reported that Ukraine was to introduce effective export control measures for the four cereals from Saturday to prevent market disruptions in neighbouring EU member states. According to the Commission, disruptions on agricultural markets in five Member States, namely Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary, have disappeared.
The regulation, published on Friday in the Journal of Laws, shows that from 16 September this year there will be a ban on the import of certain agricultural products from Ukraine to Poland, including wheat, maize, rape or colza rape seeds, sunflowers. The new legislation also bans the import of products resulting from the processing of the above-mentioned cereals and seeds. These include rapeseed cake and meal, wheat and maize bran, middlings, and common wheat flour.
“The purpose of this extension is to reduce the possibility of circumventing the import ban on the above raw materials by increasing imports of products derived from their processing. This possibility is indicated by the results of trade with Ukraine in recent months”, says the explanatory memorandum to the draft regulation.
The new regulations provide that agricultural products from Ukraine may be transported through Poland in transit. The condition for the possibility of transit of products through the territory of Poland is its termination outside the territory of Poland or in seaports in: Gdansk, Gdynia, Swinoujscie, Szczecin or Kolobrzeg.
On Friday evening, the Hungarian government introduced similar provisions. The extension of the ban on Ukrainian grain imports was also announced by the Slovakian government.
Arkadiusz Słomczyński