Day: April 29, 2023

Ukrainian authorities have sent notes of protest to the Polish and EU embassies in Kiev, decrying restrictions on imports of the country’s agricultural products to the bloc. The move was announced on Saturday by Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Oleg Nikolenko in a Facebook post.

According to Nikolenko, Ukraine considers the restrictions “utterly unacceptable.”

“Such restrictions, for whatever reason, do not comply with the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement and the principles and norms of the EU Single Market,” Nikolenko insisted.

Earlier this month, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria unilaterally banned the import of agricultural products from Ukraine in a bid to protect their domestic markets, which have been overflowing with cheap produce. Romania did not impose an import ban, but joined the calls for Brussels to free the region of Ukrainian goods.

The spokesman further claimed that Kiev has “all legal grounds” to immediately resume its exports to Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria and continue uninterrupted transit of all Ukrainian products to other countries both inside and outside the EU.

“The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry urged its [EU] partners to find a balanced solution based on EU legislation, the Association Agreement, and in the spirit of solidarity,” he added.

The European Commission and the five member states struck a deal on Friday, following two weeks of discussion, which involves replacing individual bans placed by each country on Ukrainian imports with “emergency safeguard measures” for four major staples – wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds.

Source: Russia Today

The European Commission on Friday struck an agreement with five EU member-states to help clear the supply glut caused by Ukrainian agricultural imports. The announcement was made on Twitter by EU trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis.

“The European Commission has reached an agreement in principle with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia regarding Ukraine agri-food products. We have acted to address concerns of both farmers in neighboring EU countries and Ukraine,” Dombrovskis wrote on the social media platform.

According to the official, the key elements of the new deal include the withdrawal of unilateral import restrictions previously placed by the countries on Ukrainian agricultural produce, a €100 million ($110 million) support package for the member-states’ farmers, and “emergency safeguard measures” for four Ukrainian staples – wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds. Dombrovskis did not elaborate on what these emergency measures would entail, but sources claim that the imports of these crops into the five Eastern European countries will likely be blocked unless for transit.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the deal, saying that it would help guarantee the transit of Ukrainian produce.

“This agreement preserves both Ukraine’s export capacity so that it continues to feed the world, and the livelihoods of our farmers,” she tweeted.

In June last year, the EU lifted tariffs and quotas for Ukrainian agricultural imports for one year in order to enable grain from Ukraine to be shipped to global markets amid the conflict with Russia. Many of the shipments, however, ended up in Eastern European countries, flooding their markets with cheap produce and sparking protests among local farmers.

Earlier this month, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria unilaterally banned agricultural products imported from Ukraine in bid to protect their markets. While Romania had not imposed its own import ban, it joined the other four in urging Brussels to find a solution to the glut of Ukrainian produce. Import bans were deemed “unacceptable” by Brussels, as they undermined the bloc’s single market rules.

The news of a deal on Ukrainian food imports followed a decision by EU ambassadors to extend Ukraine’s tariff-free access to the bloc’s market by another year. However, the extension is still subject to formal approval by the European Parliament and EU countries in the coming weeks.

Source: Russia Today

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has urged the European Commission (EC) to check if Ukrainian food exports meet EU standards as Warsaw seeks to protect its economy from “destabilization” caused by an influx of cheap goods from Ukraine.

He announced on Friday that Warsaw would submit a request to the EC demanding an inspection of a range of goods such as poultry, eggs, and dairy products.

Earlier, the Slovak authorities had banned the processing and sale of Ukrainian grain after discovering a dangerous pesticide in a shipment.

“We want to reliably verify the impact of these products on the Polish market in the last few months and the risks related to the destabilization of the Polish market in the future,” Morawiecki was quoted by the radio station RMF24 as saying.

The announcement comes at a time when EU ambassadors are expected to vote on extending duty-free trade with Ukraine, which expires on June 5.

Last year, the EU lifted tariffs and quotas for Ukrainian agricultural produce in order to enable grain from Ukraine to be shipped onward to global markets. However, much of the supply has ended up getting stuck in Eastern European countries. The glut of cheap produce has left EU farmers struggling against what they view as unfair competition.

Earlier this month, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria unilaterally blocked Ukrainian food products from their markets. Last week, the European Commission offered €100 million ($109 million) in support for farmers in the five member states, of which €40 million will reportedly be allocated to Poland.

The EC also agreed to introduce a ban on imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds from Ukraine until June. However, the agriculture ministers of the five countries demanded that the list of banned goods be expanded.

Source: Russia Today

Brussels may ban certain EU exports to countries that are believed to be re-exporting sanctioned goods to Russia, in a bid to enforce the existing sanctions against the country, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing sources close to the discussions.

According to the report, a legal mechanism would allow Brussels to identify sanctioned products that end up in Russia through third parties, and countries that resell them.

The European Commission would then issue official warnings to these states. If those are not heeded, Brussels would then add the names of targeted products and destinations to export controls.

The measure may be included in the 11th package of Ukraine-related sanctions against Russia, sources claim.

Some member states, however, have expressed concern over how the measure may affect their trade relations with third countries, as well as how such measures comply with global trade rules, even if they are strictly targeted and temporary, sources say.

“It will lead to quite some discussion in the EU – over whether we are comfortable doing that. How do you avoid the unintended side effects of pushing certain countries in a different direction to where you want them to go? You have to be very careful on how you use carrots and sticks,” one of the sources told the news outlet.

Source: Russia Today

Raw sugar prices reached an 11-year high this week, trading data showed. Analysts have pointed to adverse weather and a drop in output by major producers as among the reasons behind the spike.

The cost of May futures on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) surged past $0.27 per pound on Thursday, the highest price since mid-2011. While prices have since somewhat subsided, they remain well above the February peak of $0.22 per pound and are nearly 40% up on a year-to-date basis.

Analysts have linked the price rise with growing global demand, which is still recovering after the Covid-19 pandemic, but have also noted a drop in output and the lower production outlook in major sugar-producing countries as driving prices upwards.

As an example, analysts cited last year’s drought which resulted in a lower output of European beet crop. Elsewhere, heavy rains in Brazil, the world’s largest producer of sugar cane, are slowing the start of this year’s harvest, which was due to begin in April. India, the second largest sugar supplier, recently cut its production estimates by nearly 3% for the current crop year, also due to unseasonal rainfall in one of its main sugar-producing regions.

“In recent weeks, the Asian cane-crushing season has started to wind down and we have seen large downward crop revisions in the key producing countries, most notably India, Thailand, China, and Pakistan,” John Stansfield, a senior sugar analyst at commodity data platform DNEXT, told CNBC.

Girish Chhimwal, an analyst at SandP, predicts that the sugar market could become “very volatile” in the coming months, depending on Asian monsoon rainfall.

“Sugar fundamentals are quite bullish for the prices to remain elevated in the short to medium term… Prices should trend towards staying elevated in the 21 to 24 cents per pound range,” he was cited as saying.

Analysts have also warned that elevated costs on raw sugar will inevitably drive up global prices on candy and sugared drinks.

Source: Russia Today