Poland is eyeing the possibility of temporarily closing the border for Ukrainian products as the cap on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine to Poland, proposed by Brussels and Kyiv, are “unacceptable” for Warsaw.
Donald Tusk, the head of the Polish government, expressed this point of view at a joint press conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Støre in Warsaw on Wednesday.
According to the Polish prime minister, Warsaw was ready for a “serious conversation” about the cap on Ukrainian agricultural products coming into Poland, but the caps proposed by Brussels and Kyiv turned out to be unacceptable.
As much agricultural products could enter from Ukraine duty-free as on average in 2022-2023, thought there was an attempt to slightly limit their flow. Moreover, according to Poland’s point of view, this measuring period should not be the years 2022-2023, when the war was already going on, but the period before the war. It will reduce harm done to Poland’s producers by making the caps stricter.
Tusk said that Poland is in dialogue with Ukraine about the temporary closure of the border and the complete shutdown of trade. He emphasized the necessity of talking about this with Polish farmers, because it would also affect Poland, even though this would be a temporary solution. Meanwhile, trade balance with Ukraine remains positive.
The holding of an agrarian summit was announced in Warsaw on Thursday. The leaders of all agrarian organizations protesting in Warsaw and on the border with Ukraine will attend it, as they hope to solve their problems.
Tusk says that the Polish side is looking for solutions that will protect the Polish and European markets from the influx of much cheaper agricultural products from Ukraine.
According to Ukrinform, protests of Polish farmers against the European green agenda and the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products into the domestic market held in Warsaw on February 27 are planned to repeat on March 6.
Protests of Polish farmers on the roads leading to checkpoints near the border with Ukraine have been held since February 9, 2024. Protesters demand a ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products and rejection of the EU’s green course.
They recorded five cases of dumping of Ukrainian agriproducts from freight rail cars onto the rail tracks or on the roads.
According to Marcin Kerwinski, Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, the dumping of crops is unacceptable, and Polish authorities will respond to such manifestations of anarchy and detain the culprits.
NH Logistics UKR has been offering IOR Importer of Record and EOR Exporter of Record services since 2001 and is a market leader in Ukraine and Eurasia, supporting many clients with their import/export shipments.
Source Link