site.btaUPDATED Bulgaria, Four Other EU Member States Urge EC to Introduce Measures Protecting Farmers from Ukrainian Agricultural Exports

The agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia signed a letter on Ukrainian agricultural exports to European Commission Executive Vice President and EU Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis and EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, the Bulgarian Agriculture and Food Ministry said here on Monday.

As a result of increased imports from Ukraine, producers in frontline Member States continue to face difficulties in marketing their products on their traditional export markets, where they are being replaced by cheap Ukrainian agricultural products, the letter states. 

“We believe it is necessary for the Commission to introduce such measures that protect the markets of the frontline Member States and, at the same time, give them the opportunity to exploit their export potential,” it adds. 

The five countries propose as a possible solution the introduction of tariff quotas for the most sensitive agricultural products in the framework of the negotiations on the extension of the regulation on the Autonomous Trade Measures.

For those products where it is not possible to reintroduce tariff quotas, a different solution should be found to address the problem, the letter states.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Kiril Vatev held a meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber, which was attended by 10 branch organizations from the sector, including representatives of the National Grain Producer Association  (NGPA) in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

The meeting discussed the demands of NGPA's recent declaration in detail, in which the Association stressed the difficult situation in the sector and the need for measures. 

Minister Vatev pointed out that he takes into account the tension among farmers, which is currently present in other European countries as well. He undertook to facilitate a meeting of the branch organisations with Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and Finance Minister Assen Vassilev to discuss the problems and measures discussed during the meeting.