EU states in the east call on the block to extend Ukrainian food import ban

The agriculture ministers of five states in the east of the European Union called on the bloc to modify and extend regulations restricting the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, Polish news agency PAP reported, citing sources.

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The EU on May 2 set restrictions until June 5 on imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed to ease the excess supply of these grains in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

According to a letter signed by the ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia the ban does not apply to goods imported under contracts concluded before May 2, creating a risk that undated contracts could be cleared by customs, PAP reported.

As result, there’s a risk of abuses while customs authorities will not have tools to verify and question such documents, the ministers wrote, according to PAP.

The ministers also called for the import restrictions to be extended until the end of the year.

The restrictions this year came after the EU last year liberalized all imports from Ukraine to help the country as it fended off Russia’s invasion. The five countries became transit routes for Ukrainian grain that could not be exported through the country’s Black Sea ports because the war.

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