Hungary wants the ban on Ukrainian wheat imports to remain in place until the end of 2023, Budapest Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said, adding that other neighboring countries would like the same, Reuters reports.
“We would like the commission [Europeană] accept our measures as we intend to maintain them until the end of the year to allow our farmers to harvest and store their crops,” Nagy wrote in a post on his Facebook page.
He stated this during the meeting of EU agriculture ministers, which is taking place in Brussels.
Hungary on April 16 suspended wheat imports from Ukraine after Poland ordered the same measure following protests by its farmers over flooding markets with large quantities of Ukrainian wheat and other grains at prices below local production.
Slovakia and Bulgaria have also followed suit, while the Romanian government has announced that it will seal and control shipments of grain from Ukraine transiting through Romania and conduct customs checks on all agricultural products coming from the neighboring country.
The EU is preparing a unified approach to restrictions on Ukrainian wheat
European markets, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, faced an influx of Ukrainian wheat, which could not be exported through Black Sea ports due to blockades due to the Russian invasion, causing deep discontent among farmers in many EU countries since May.
Last week, a representative of the European Commission told Reuters that the executive bloc of the community is preparing restrictions for Ukrainian wheat in order to have a unified approach at the EU level.
The commission, headed by Ursula von der Leyen, initially condemned as “unacceptable” the restrictions imposed unilaterally by some member states, but gave in to their decisive actions.
After imposing a ban on the import of Ukrainian grain, Hungary later extended the measure to dozens of other food products imported from the neighboring country, including flour, honey, wine, bread, meat and vegetables.
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Source: Hot News
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