Slovakian Minister of Agriculture: the Ukrainian complaint has no legal basis, Slovakia will not lift restrictions on grain imports

By: STA Date: 2023. 09. 19. 11:00

Due to the maintenance of restrictions on the import of Ukrainian grain, the Ukrainian complaint filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO) has no legal basis, Slovakia will not lift the embargo, said Jozef Bíres, head of the Slovak Ministry of Agriculture, in Bratislava on Tuesday.

(Photo: Pixabay)

The Minister of Agriculture reacted to the fact that Ukraine filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization on Monday, because three EU countries, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, maintained the blockade of Ukrainian grain exports under their national authority after the European Commission (EC) did not extend the deadline for Ukrainian grain to expire on September 15. import ban. “I surprised. Of course, the complaint has no legal basis, and obviously there can be no argument for uncontrolled food imports into a member country,” said Jozef Bíres, whose words were quoted by the Czech news agency CTK.

The government maintains its position

The Slovak minister told the Slovak public service news agency TASR: the embargo on the import of Ukrainian grain will not be lifted. “Our position is that we will maintain unilateral measures until the Ukrainian (import) guarantee system is evaluated and it is confirmed that imports are under control,” said Jozef Bíres, referring to the export permit-based plan presented by Ukraine on Monday. grain export control system. “This is a natural reaction in order to protect our own market from excessive imports from Ukraine,” stated Jozef Bíres.

MTI