Chamber of Agriculture: We do not ask for Ukrainian imports

(Photo: Pixabay)

According to the information, as part of the association agreement between the EU and Ukraine, the union previously fully liberalized the trade of the vast majority of products coming from Ukraine, maintaining tariff quotas and the minimum price system only for a few selected agricultural products. This was suspended by the institution of autonomous trade measures introduced following the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which abolished the previous, minimal restrictions and opened the way for the flow of Ukrainian agricultural goods into the EU. The measure, which was originally for 1 year, has since been extended twice and was in force until June 5, 2025, after which Brussels is preparing a long-term agreement that would remain in force until Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, they said. “The position of NAK and the Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Circles and Cooperatives remains clear: we do not want Ukrainian imports!” – they said. Since the outbreak of the war, millions of tons of goods have arrived from Ukraine, which have not only destroyed the markets to dust and undermined the market opportunities of Hungarian farmers, but are also objectionable from a consumer protection perspective – they added. They reminded that with Ukraine’s accession to the EU, they would permanently lose the fight to protect their own farmers, since trade restrictions could no longer be maintained against an EU member state. According to Brussels’ intention, Ukraine would become a full member of the EU by 2030 at the latest. The European Commission’s plan is to restructure EU subsidies, meaning it will take resources away from the current member states.

They pointed out that the price of the war has already been paid by European farmers and European citizens

Member states have so far provided more than 150 billion euros to support Ukraine. The Ukraine Instrument entered into force on March 1, 2024, amounting to 50 billion euros (17 billion in grants, 33 billion in loans). For comparison: Hungary received 1.749 billion euros, Poland 5.717 billion euros, and Romania 5.148 billion euros during pre-accession – they indicated. They wrote that Brussels’ plan has quite a few beneficiaries: the largest buyers of Ukrainian grain worldwide are Spain, China and Romania (the latter due to port shipments), which bought about 44 percent of Ukrainian grain exports. Spain is the largest European buyer of corn. The major buyers of rapeseed are Germany, Belgium and France, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian exports. “It is therefore not surprising that some Western member states have taken a position on Ukraine, even if the accession of a country at war would also cause losses for European farmers,” they wrote.

MTI