Farmers pressure EU for more safeguards on food imports from Ukraine

The Council and the European Parliament should introduce new protection measures for agricultural products such as grains and honey against Ukrainian imports, and if they fail, further farmers’ demonstrations in Europe are likely, six farmers associations stated in a joint press release on Thursday (15 February).

The European Commission’s proposal to prolong the liberalisation of imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to help the country in its war effort is causing a backlash in the EU farm community, which is putting pressure on member states and the European Parliament to change the measures.

In its draft regulation suspending import duties and quotas for imports from Ukraine, the European Commission introduced safeguard clauses to limit imports of Ukrainian poultry, eggs, and sugar into Europe in case the influx goes beyond the average volumes of 2022-23. 

Six associations representing farmers (Copa and Cogeca), the poultry processors and traders in the EU, the sugar manufacturers, the maize producers, the beet growers, and the union of wholesalers of eggs poultry and game, demanded to extend the safeguards to cereals and honey and to fix the reference period for triggering the safeguard mechanism at pre-war import volumes, i.e. before 2022.

The Commission proposal is being discussed in parallel in the trade committee at the Council and in the trade committee at the European Parliament. The EP rapporter, Sandra Kalniete (EPP, Latvia), presented a text with no amendments.

The first debate on the report will take place on Monday and the approval is expected on 7 March.

The six organisations stated that “it appears that the Council and the European Parliament are not inclined to take action” and warned that the decisions to be made in Brussels over the next few days regarding the renewal of trade benefits for Ukraine “will have profound consequences”.

Also on Thursday, French wheat and grain growers joined farmers from Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, in calling for ’emergency brakes’ on the excessive influx of food commodities from Kyiv. 

The issue of imports from Ukraine adds to the farmers’ discontent in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, and Latvia.

The main farmers’ organisations in those countries met in Poland on Tuesday (13 February), threatening the EU with further actions if no measures were taken.

The pressure on commodities prices in the internal market initially affecting only the EU countries at the borders with Ukraine, the six associations stated, are now hitting the profitability of producers of grains, poultry, and sugar in “other member states such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Austria”.

If the Council and the EP fail to amend the regulation, this ”will likely lead to further demonstrations, unilateral bans, and ultimately, reduced support for Ukraine”, the food producers concluded.

At the same time, Ukraine’s trade representative Taras Kachka told a group of reporters in Brussels on Wednesday (14 February) that “Ukrainian products do not cause any damage to (…) EU farmers”.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]

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French cereal growers join Eastern Europe's call for safeguards against Ukrainian imports

French cereal producers are calling on the EU to introduce safeguard clauses to protect the sector from Ukrainian imports, along the lines of those granted for poultry and sugar. They are calling on France to bring "all its weight" to bear at forthcoming European meetings.