EU: The debate on a ban on imports of cereals from Russia – Commissioner of Agriculture intervention

The debate in the European Union on the ban on imports of Russian food opens up, with the latest intervention being owned by Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, who questioned that imports of its cereals into the Eastern European country are important. The Commissioner’s intervention followed the move of many EU Member States which attacked imports of cereals from Russia, arguing that they are “flooding” and disrupting their markets. After Latvia approved the ban on imports of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus on 22 February, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a week later that his government would “study” the decision and would not exclude “take appropriate measures”, even proposing a pan-European ban. “The imports of cereals from Russia to Poland are negligible,” Wojciechowski replied on Tuesday (5.3.2024), adding that the largest importers in the EU were Italy, Latvia, Spain and Greece. Imports of cereals from Ukraine and Russia have fueled the protests of Eastern European farmers in recent months. Wheat from Ukraine As the EU proceeds to expand trade liberalisation with Ukraine, Polish farmers continue to protest the imports of food from Ukraine, which they accuse of disrupting the agricultural market. The EU temporarily lifted the restrictions on imports from Kiev in June 2022, after the start of the war, which led to an influx of Ukrainian goods into the European market and pushed prices downwards, especially in countries such as Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania. The vote on the renewal of trade facilitations in Ukraine will take place on Thursday at the European Parliament Trade Committee (INTA). Meanwhile, Warsaw is in talks with Kiev to address tensions at the Polish-Ukraine border, where Polish farmers have organized blockades and dropped Ukrainian grain in recent weeks. On 1 March, Polish farmers opened another front and caused disturbance at the border with Lithuania, accompanying Polish inspectors who controlled trucks entering Poland to ensure that they did not carry Ukrainian grain.