Six farmers’ associations consider their proposal insufficient Brussels in order to improve control of the inflow of Ukrainian products into European Unionconsidering that the “sustainability” of the sector is at stake, while they threaten new protests if the restrictions are not drastically strengthened.

In late January, the European Commission proposed to renew for another year, starting in June, the exemption from customs duties granted to Ukraine from spring 2022 to support the wartime country. However, at the same time, “rescue measures” are foreseen to limit the effects of imports of agricultural products. Thus, “corrective measures” could be adopted if there is “severe turbulence” in the market, while for three product categories (poultry, eggs, sugar) a “braking” mechanism would stabilize imports at the average that fluctuated in 2022-23. If the volume of imports increases above this limit, customs duties may be reimposed.

The proposal, which is being considered by the member countries and the European Parliamentdoes not satisfy her Copa-Cogeca (the union of the two largest farmers’ unions in the EU) and five other organizations representing key sectors: beet, cereal/oilseed, egg and poultry producers.

“If the proposed text remains unchanged, the economic viability of the European poultry, sugar, grain and honey sectors will be threatened” due to pressure from cheap, competitive Ukrainian products, they warned in their joint statement. The ceiling proposed for the three product categories corresponds to a large volume, the same one that caused the current crisis, while “no (automatic) restriction is foreseen for cereals and honey, despite the significant production potential” of Ukrainianthey note.

“Unfortunately, the Council and the European Parliament show no inclination to act. This approach will fail to assuage farmers’ concerns and will likely trigger new protests” or even new “unilateral embargoes” from countries bordering Ukraine, they warned.

The “unfair”, as they describe it, competition from imported Ukrainian products, is one of the causes that caused the mass demonstrations of farmers in Europe in January. “Many agricultural products do not reach the markets for which they were intended”, especially in Africa and the Middle East, but remain in Europe, the six organizations stress. “The farmers in Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia they are currently selling their products at prices around 40% lower than the market price, if they manage to sell them (…) Thousands of farms are threatened with bankruptcy”, they added.

The problem, according to the organizations, “starts to touch the France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria… where grain, poultry and sugar producers are under significant pressure” due to imports that “do not meet our environmental and social regulations” and “drive down prices”.