Hungary Wants to Extend Ban on Imports of Ukrainian Agriculture Products after 15 September

Hungary claims it has agreed with Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria that 4 countries will impose national import bans on Ukrainian agriculture-products to protect their markets if the EU does not extend the ban, which expires on 15 September. The announcement was made on Wednesday by Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy in a video on his Facebook page. Nagy said that the new prohibitive measures would apply to a wider list of Ukrainian products than the current ones. “We have agreed with my Romanian, Slovak and Bulgarian colleagues that if Brussels does not decide to extend the existing moratorium, we will take national measures on a case-by-case basis,” Nagy said in the video message. Five countries insist on extension of the current EU ban when it expires on Friday, while Poland and Hungary have claimed they will unilaterally extend the ban if the European Commission does not. In May, the European Commission announced “provisional measures” that ban imports of certain Ukrainian agriculture-products into 5 countries while allowing transit to other markets. These measures expire on Friday. It is worth noting that on Tuesday, according to media, the parliamentary committee of Bulgaria decided not to support the extension of the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine. The parliament has not yet approved this position. Meanwhile, on Tuesday the Polish government adopted a resolution declaring its intention to extend the ban at the national level if it is not extended at the EU level. In response, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced an appeal to WTO arbitration if Poland blocks Ukrainian grain exports.