The EU can create a flexible list of prohibited Ukrainian agricultural products for import

Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania want the EU’s list of agricultural import bans from Ukraine to be “flexible”.

The idea is that a product can be removed from the list if its import is desirable, or a new product can be added in case of excessive imports, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telusz said.

“We have a small problem with Bulgaria,” Telush admitted, adding that Bulgaria wants sunflower seeds removed from the list because Bulgarian processors need to import them from Ukraine. Instead, she would like to include “milk powder” on the list.

It is also unknown whether all other neighboring countries of Ukraine – in the event of a negative EC decision – will also introduce unilateral bans, as Poland plans to do.

The minister admitted that only Hungary “is very determined to introduce such a ban together with Poland”, while the Slovaks are “very seriously thinking about it”.

The Polish minister said that negotiations on this issue are still ongoing.

We will remind you that on June 5, the European Commission extended until September 15 the restrictions on the export of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, but allowed the transit of these goods to these countries.