V4 agricultural chambers: Unified EU action is needed to deal with the problems caused by Ukrainian imports

(Photo: NAK)

The meeting was attended by leaders of the Slovak Chamber of Agriculture and Food, the National Council of Polish Chambers of Agriculture, the Hungarian National Chamber of Agriculture and the Chamber of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, as well as other professional organizations.
The central topic of the meeting was the drastic market distortion due to the duty-free import of Ukrainian agricultural products, which significantly affected all four countries. The participants discussed the current sector issues, the market situation, as well as the lessons learned from the joint demonstration in Brussels that took place recently.

Host organizations demonstrated

As is known, on May 23, in Brussels, representatives of the farmers’ organizations of the region and about 200 producers demanded at a demonstration that the ban on the import of Ukrainian crops be extended until the middle of June 2024. In the absence of this, it is not possible to store this year’s harvest, and market problems would increase. In the petition submitted to the then EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, the organizations requested that the import ban be extended to other products as well. Also, to create a fund to support Central and Eastern European farmers, who are most affected by the consequences of the war, and to check Ukrainian products for compliance with EU environmental and animal protection, phytosanitary and phytosanitary regulations. Because the double standard that applies to Ukrainian and EU food causes an unacceptable competitive disadvantage for the agriculture of Hungary and the other affected countries. The demonstration in Brussels also showed that the existing organization and knowledge base of the chambers, as well as the framework and helpful cooperation of COPA-COGECA (Committee of Agricultural Professional Organizations – General Confederation of Agricultural Cooperatives) – whose general secretary, Pekka Pesonen, also participated in the rácalmás meeting – took a key role in the action. makes it possible to better explain the arguments of the region’s agriculture to the international public at the EU level.

The V4 agricultural chambers continue to urge a unified EU solution

This would ensure that Ukrainian agricultural products – as planned and the reason for the abolition of customs duties last year – reach their final destination, which is basically outside the EU. The increased amount of goods arriving duty-free, not produced in accordance with the strict EU regulations, and therefore even carrying human and animal health risks, remains a serious and worrisome problem, which causes huge dumping and price drops on the markets. Customs tariffs and quotas must be brought back as soon as possible, if necessary, EU compensatory aid should also be given to Ukrainian farmers, the chambers draw attention to.

NAK