EU analysis shows that extension of ban on exports from Ukraine is groundless – trade mission

Extension of the ban on exports of agrarian products from Ukraine to five EU states will aggravate the problems of both European and Ukrainian farmers, so Kyiv insists on its cancellation.

Source: Taras Kachka, trade representative of Ukraine, in a commentary for European Pravda after the meeting of the "grain" platform in Brussels

On 13 September, the 9th meeting of the Joint Coordinative Commission for Export and Transit of Ukrainian Agrarian Produce was held. Specialised directorates of the European Commission and Ukraine’s neighbouring EU member states participated in the meeting.

Quote: "At the meeting, the European Commission presented the analytics of the EU import forecast according to this year’s harvest. These forecasts show that the EU countries will have to import 17 million tonnes of corn within the 2023-2024 marketing season, which is way more than they have ever imported. As for the wheat, we heard that the EU considers Ukraine and Russia competitors on the grain market, so here the issue is not only with the Ukrainian grain."

Kachka added that at the meeting, Ukraine insisted on the cancellation of the ban since "there is no reason it should exist".

"Yes, European farmers have problems, but the ban does not solve these problems; it only creates them. Suffice it to recall that we have not been on the market in Poland and the other five countries where the ban is implemented, but their problems remain. "Consequently, it is not our influence," he noted.

He added that the global wheat price is reducing dramatically, but this trend is not connected with Ukraine.

"The ban itself was wrong and legally erroneous, and everyone is at a dead end. The problems of Polish farmers have not been solved, and the ban gives no way of resolving them. So based on the reports of the European Commission, it is safe to say that there is no ground for the new ban after 15 September," Kachka stressed.

Background:

• Earlier, the European Commission refuted the news for Ukraine’s ambassador about an allegedly submitted suggestion to extend temporary restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural produce that are supposed to end on 15 September.
• On Wednesday, 13 September, the Polish RMF24 reported that the European Commission had submitted a proposal to extend the temporary ban on the import of certain types of Ukrainian agricultural products after 15 September, as demanded by Poland and Hungary. The proposal was made by Michael Hager.
• Ukraine stated that the unilateral extension of the ban would violate the rules of the common market and the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
• Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that Ukraine would request the arbitration of the World Trade Organisation if Poland blocked the export of Ukrainian grain.

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