Ukraine may ban imports of Polish vegetables
Taras Kachka, Deputy Economy Minister and Trade Representative of Ukraine, has said that Ukraine will introduce an embargo on onions, tomatoes, cabbage and apples from Poland in the coming days.
Source: Kachka in an interview with Rzeczpospolita, reported by European Pravda
Details: Kachka said that after five months of negotiations, Ukraine had lost hope of resolving the dispute, and that is why Kyiv had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation.
Since then, he said, the Ukrainian side has not received any response from the Polish government on the matter. For Kyiv, it was important not only that Poland extended the ban, but also that it extended it to cover more products – flour and grain meal.
Quote: "The main reason for us is to prove that Poland has no right to impose such measures. From the very beginning, we disagreed with the export ban, and it is important for us to move in the right direction, which means a dialogue with the European Commission as the institution responsible for international trade."
More details: Kachka explained that Ukraine took this step to "persuade" Poland to take a step back and agree to a licensing mechanism developed in cooperation with the EU.
Kachka added that Ukraine does not intend to deteriorate relations with Poland, but seeks to develop civilised methods of resolving the dispute.
Background:
- On Friday, the European Commission announced that it would not extend restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine after 15 September, but Kyiv agreed to take measures to limit imports on its part.
- However, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have decided to impose unilateral restrictions, with Warsaw saying their restrictions will remain in place indefinitely. Following this, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine was ready to impose a ban on imports of certain goods from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary if these countries do not lift the grain ban.
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