Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Romania Florin Barbu intends to ask the European Commission to extend restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine until the end of the year and expand the list of banned for the import of agricultural products.
“The ban is valid until September 15. I will hold a discussion with my colleagues from other countries, and we will ask for an extension until December 31. In addition to rapeseed, wheat, corn, sunflower, I will try to add up to 10 more products,” Euractiv quoted Barbu as saying in the Romanian Parliament on Wednesday.
He said the list of import bans could include honey and meat, as well as “other Romanian priorities so that farmers can sell local products.”
As reported, the EU ban on imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflowers from Ukraine came into force on May 2 and replaced unilateral decisions to ban imports by countries bordering Ukraine, particularly Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, in violation of the Association Agreement and EU internal regulations as of April 28.
As noted by the EU, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia undertook to cancel unilateral measures on these and all other types of agricultural products originating from Ukraine, as well as to allow free transit.
On June 5, the European Commission extended until September 15 restrictions on imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, considering that the problems provoked by such imports have not yet been overcome. The new regulations do not allow these grains and oilseeds to be supplied to the markets of these countries under contracts concluded before May 2.
Romania was the only one of the five frontline countries that did not impose a ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products before the official decision of the European Commission.
