Hungary 'bans' some Ukrainian goods
(Baonghean.vn) - In addition to cereals, Hungary has just banned the import of honey and some meat products from Ukraine until June 30. The information was released by the Prime Minister's Office on April 20, increasing pressure on Brussels to expand the proposed measures across the European Union.
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Illustration photo: Reuters |
Earlier, on April 19, the European Commission (EC) said it would take emergency “precautionary measures” on wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed after several Central European countries unilaterally banned imports of food products from Ukraine to protect their own agricultural sectors.
However, Hungary and Poland have announced that they will add other products. Hungary's Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Gergely Gulyas said that the country's ban on imports of major grains and agricultural products "includes a total of 25 products, the most important of which are cereals, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, wheat flour, oil, honey and some meat products."
The government's announcement came after Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy demanded in a Facebook post on the night of April 19 that any EU-wide ban be extended to include "eggs, honey and poultry".
On the same day, Mr. Nagy also told the state news agency MTI that Hungary would continue to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian grain, ensuring that these shipments would depart “in a controlled manner.”
Referring to the ban, he asserted: “Hungary needs to take decisive action and protect the interests of Hungarian farmers,” adding that measures would force Brussels to act.
This will only allow grain from Ukraine into five countries if it wants to export to other EU countries or the rest of the world, an EU official said, adding that the measure will last until the end of June.
On April 19, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said that negotiations with Brussels would continue early next week.
The countries have become transit routes for Ukrainian grain, which cannot be exported through Black Sea ports due to the conflict.
These bottlenecks then left millions of tons of grain stuck in countries bordering Ukraine, forcing local farmers to compete with cheap Ukrainian imports.
