Romania adds eggs, poultry meat to Ukrainian import license list

MOSCOW. Oct 10 (Interfax) - Romania has extended the list of Ukrainian imports requiring license to include eggs and poultry meat, Ukrainian media quoted the Euractiv.ro publication as saying, citing the Romanian government.

Romanian poultry producers are facing a "serious problem" due to imports of eggs and poultry meat from Ukraine, which are sold at prices far below Romanian production costs, it said.

Following talks with representatives of the poultry sector, the government decided to add eggs and poultry meat to the list of products that can only be imported from Ukraine with a license, Romanian Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu said.

Cereals, seeds, flour, and sugar are also on this list.

It is "our duty to protect Romanian production," Barbu said.

As an EU member state, Romania should comply with certain production requirements in the poultry sector, making costs "30% higher than in Ukraine," Barbu added.

Barbu said there was no ban on Ukrainian egg and poultry meat imports.

After the European Commission decided not to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports to five neighboring EU countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia) in September 2023, Romania introduced import licenses for grains and oilseeds from Ukraine and Moldova. This measure, introduced last October, has been extended.

Under this decision, only Romanian companies involved in oil and fat production, milling, animal feed production, and animal husbandry can import agricultural products from Ukraine and Moldova.