BUDAPEST, Jan 15 (Reuters): The European Union's eastern states are demanding the EU impose import duties on Ukraine grains, citing unfair competition, Hungary's agricultural ministry said on Monday.
The ministry said the farm ministers from Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia had sent a letter to the European Commission requesting the measures, saying cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine are eating into their export markets.
The five signatories are among six EU member states that produce significantly more wheat and maize than they need, which is key for European food safety and the EU's strategic sovereignty, the ministers said.
"This is why Brussels needs to introduce measures that protect the markets of member states bordering Ukraine while helping them make use of their full export potential," the letter signed by the ministers including Hungary's Farm Minister Istvan Nagy, said.
"One of these [measures] could be introducing import duties on the most sensitive agricultural products."
Ukraine's larger farm sizes make the country's grain exports cheaper and that is pushing EU farmers out of their traditional export markets, the ministers said.
Farmers in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia "have suffered significant damages" since the EU suspended import quotas and customs on grain from Ukraine last year, they said.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
