Poland to create safeguard tools against Ukrainian agricultural goods for its farmers

MOSCOW. June 25 (Interfax) - Polish farmers cannot be left without certain safeguard tools that will allow them to better compete against Ukrainian goods on the European market, and Poland intends to create such instruments, Ukrainian media cited Polish Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Sekerski as saying in Luxembourg on Monday.

"We have drawn certain conclusions, including from the farmers' protests. We want to create such instruments and guarantees that will boost the competitive edge of Polish agriculture," Sekerski said.

This work will not be easy given the potential of Ukraine's agricultural sector, he said. However, Polish farmers cannot be left without certain tools that will enable them to more efficiently compete against Ukrainian goods on the European market, he said.

When asked about the possibility of suspending sugar imports from Ukraine, Sekerski said that the EU-Ukraine trade liberalization decision also introduces an "emergency brake" for sensitive agriculture goods such as poultry meat, eggs, sugar, oats, groats, corn, and honey. Customs duties may be reinstated if their imports exceed the average import amounts recorded in the second half of 2021, in 2022 and in 2023.

This emergency brake has already been triggered for oat imports from Ukraine, and the same may happen for eggs, Sekerski said. Sugar exports from Ukraine to the EU market are also very high in 2024. The EU may use this instrument, but it is not obliged to do so.

"It's true that sugar prices have dropped, but this is not the kind of decline to demand caps on its influx. I think that caps will be introduced, because we also participate in this process. The [European] Commission should carry out an analysis," he said.