Recently, the Polish government introduced a complete ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products into its territory. Almost everything produced in Ukraine fell under the ban: honey, any kind of meat, vegetables, fruits, cereals, eggs, grain, etc.

According to some estimates, the losses of Ukrainian farmers reached $143 million in just 2 weeks. However, such a decision turned out to be a crisis for many Polish entrepreneurs, who for years imported agricultural products from Ukraine for their own processing, had stable business relationships and guaranteed volumes of supplies, which ensured for Polish consumers a more affordable price for products produced in Poland.

And on May 2, this ban was partially lifted. Anna Vinnychenko gave her comment on this situation as an expert of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine. https://ucci.org.ua/press-center/expert-opinion/polshcha-vidnovila-eksport-silgospproduktsiyi-z-ukrayini?fbclid=IwAR1RhbfIauFX6Fnlk9_ZJfvxYgFO33bJDSjg7jOZNodFOMGJU0ry9TEvcJs

April 2023 turned out to be a period of great trials for Ukrainian producers and exporters of agricultural products, because on April 15, the government of Poland (along with Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) banned any import of a wide range of basic agricultural products and other food until June 30, 2023 ( https://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/D2023000071701.pdf).

Moreover, almost all agricultural products produced in Ukraine fell under the ban: honey, vegetables, winemaking products, fruits, eggs, milk and dairy products, cereals, meat, seeds, grains, etc. Such a decision turned out to be a crisis not only for the Ukrainian exporter, but also for many Polish entrepreneurs, who for years imported agricultural products from Ukraine for their own processing, had stable business relationships and guaranteed volumes of supplies, which ensured a more affordable price for the products produced for Polish consumers goods in Poland.

A week later, the Polish authorities still made a decision to resume the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through the territory of Poland. Moreover, not a single ton of Ukrainian agricultural products will remain in Poland, said Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus (https://www.rmf24.pl/raporty/raport-wojna-z-rosja/gospodarka/news-transport-ukrainskiego-zboza-plombowany -i-z-gps-wznowienie-w,nId,6725016#crp_state=1). "We hope that not a single wagon or truck will stop in Poland, except for a short stop and onward journey to Europe or Polish ports," Development Minister Waldemar Buda said. Also, Robert Telus reported that grain transports from Ukraine, which will go through Poland, will be accompanied and controlled by the SENT system, that is, sealed with GPS seals. Thanks to this, it will be possible to track them, whether they really left Poland. Warsaw expects that by July 2023 surplus grain - about four million tons - will be removed from Poland to make way for a new harvest.

Official Kyiv sent notes of protest to the Polish embassy, as well as the EU representation in Ukraine, and emphasized in them that the situation is categorically unacceptable, and the introduced restrictions on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products are such as to contradict the Association Agreement, writes "Evropeyska Pravda". As Deputy Minister of Economy Taras Kachka stated during the Brussels Economic Forum, Ukraine received $143 million in losses.

As a result, the European Commission reached an agreement in principle with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia regarding Ukrainian agri-food products, the import of which these countries limited. According to the official announcement (https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_2562), the European Commission has adopted exceptional and temporary precautionary measures regarding the import of a limited number of goods from Ukraine under the exceptional guarantees of the Regulation on autonomous trade measures. These measures are necessary in view of the exceptional circumstances of severe logistical bottlenecks in five Member States. The measures concern only four agricultural products - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower - originating in Ukraine. They are aimed at eliminating logistics bottlenecks for these products in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The measures will enter into force on May 2 and will last until June 5, 2023.

During this period, wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds originating in Ukraine may continue to be released into free circulation in all EU Member States, except for the five frontline Member States: Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Products can continue to circulate or transit through these five Member States using a common customs transit procedure or go to a country or territory outside the EU.

The EU will also allocate a support package of 100 million euros for affected farmers in 5 member states. In exchange for this, the five EU countries will cancel unilateral measures banning the import of Ukrainian products.

And to implement this agreement, the Decree of the Minister of Development and Technology of Poland dated May 2, 2023 finally canceled the ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine (https://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2023/840). The resolution enters into force from the day of its publication, the text of the document states.

In this way, the European Commission replaced unilateral decisions in 5 member states with its own regulation and now the import ban applies to only four agricultural products: wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine. As we can see, vegetable oil is not included in the list of "prohibitions". However, in announcing the restrictions, European Commission Deputy President Valdis Dombrovskis added that the EU executive would conduct "safeguard investigations" into some other products, including sunflower oil.

At the same time, we can state with relief that Ukrainian agricultural producers can still export products to Poland and other EU countries and establish new business relationships to strengthen the economy of Ukraine, which in the conditions of martial law is an extremely important function of Ukrainian business.

We are constantly contacted by Polish business representatives with numerous inquiries regarding the purchase of Ukrainian goods, including meat, vegetables, fruits, sugar, eggs, etc. Our permanent work is trade mediation between business circles of Ukraine and Poland. Searching for business partners and establishing mutually beneficial business relations is one of the effective steps to achieve the set goal.

If representatives of the agricultural business of Ukraine are interested in trade and economic cooperation in the Ukraine – Poland/EU format, we suggest filling out the questionnaire-form at the link https://forms.gle/6AFew9Foz8SCa2R38 and providing detailed information about the goods or services for which there is a demand or offer . By receiving the specified information, we will be able to provide prompt feedback regarding potential interested parties, because we well understand that the main thing for Ukrainian business is to establish contacts and choose a reliable partner, cooperation with which will help to achieve the desired results.

Anna Vinnychenko, official representative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ukraine in Poland, head of the international company InterTradeAgency

https://ucci.org.ua/advocacy/delegation-of-the-ucci-abroad/predstavnik-tpp-ukrayini-v-polshchi-varshava