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Hungary has banned imports of honey and certain meat products as well as grains from Ukraine until June 30, the prime minister's chief of staff said on Thursday, increasing pressure on Brussels to expand measures proposed in the entire European Union.
The European Commission said on Wednesday it will take emergency "preventive measures" for wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed after some Central European countries took unilateral decisions to ban imports of food products from Ukraine to protect their own sectors. agricultural.
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However, Hungary and Poland said other products should also be included.
The Hungarian ban on imports of major cereals and agricultural products “includes a total of 25 products, of which the most important are cereals, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, flour, oil, honey and certain meat products,” said Gergely Gulyas .
The government's announcement came after Hungary's Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy demanded the widening of any EU-wide import ban to include "eggs, honey and poultry", in a Facebook post on Wednesday night. .
Nagy also told state news agency MTI on Wednesday that Hungary would continue to allow the transit of Ukrainian grain, ensuring the departure of such cargoes “in a controlled manner.”
“It was worth it for Hungary to take firm action and protect the interests of Hungarian farmers,” he said, referring to the ban, adding that the measures forced Brussels to act.
An EU official said this would only allow grain from Ukraine to enter the five countries if it was exported to other EU members or the rest of the world. This measure would last until the end of June.
Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on Wednesday that talks with Brussels would continue early next week.
The countries became transit routes for Ukrainian grain that could not be exported through Ukrainian Black Sea ports because of invasion by Russia.
Bottlenecks have trapped millions of tons of grain in countries bordering Ukraine, forcing local farmers to compete with an influx of cheap Ukrainian imports.
Source: Krisztina Than and Boldizsar Gyori | Notícias Agrícolas
