Slovakia, Poland, and a number of European countries have agreed on a position to strengthen controls on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products entering the European market, Slovak Agriculture Minister Richard Takáč told reporters after a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers (Agrifish) in Brussels on Monday.
“I can say that at an informal joint lunch, we discussed strengthening controls on imports from third countries, which is a key issue for the Slovak Republic with regard to Ukraine. Of course, for many other countries, this is partly MERCOSUR, but we also have other agreements with third countries,” he said.
Takács noted that during the informal talks, the parties agreed on a common position on the introduction of regular monitoring, in particular audits “in these third countries,” and support for strengthening controls in terms of food safety.
“We have a big problem, for example, on the border with Ukraine, where we need to strengthen these checks in terms of food safety when importing from these third countries,” he added.
According to Takach, the Polish representative presented materials that clearly demonstrate the need to strengthen such measures.
“I am glad that his materials also mentioned that Poland will propose the creation of a special fund for compensation for imports from third countries if farmers or food producers suffer. I am very pleased that they have adopted this rhetoric and the idea that we have been talking about for almost two years – that it is necessary to create such a compensation fund,” the Slovak minister emphasized.
He noted that the import of agricultural products from third countries is a topical issue for many European countries, which are convinced of the need to increase the protection of their consumers and raise the standards of third countries and their products to meet European Union standards.
“When a farmer in Europe has to comply with certain standards—how much he can spray (agricultural crops), how much he can fertilize, what the production process should be—we must demand the same when importing from third countries. And the creation of a special compensation fund and regular monitoring (of agricultural products) on a monthly basis, rather than once every six months,” summarized the Slovak Minister of Agriculture.
As reported, on January 26, the EU Council on Agriculture was to consider the request of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria to strengthen the protection of the European market from agricultural imports from Ukraine. The initiating countries argue that the existing mechanisms of the free trade agreement are not sufficient to protect their farmers, especially in sectors such as sugar, meat, grain, and dairy production.
The main demands are the unification of production standards so that Ukrainian products comply with strict EU standards on pesticides and animal welfare, as well as the creation of a special compensation fund for farmers. Until these measures are implemented and stricter border controls are in place, these countries are calling on the European Union to refrain from further tariff liberalization for Ukraine.
