Hungary bans agricultural imports from Ukraine

Following Poland, Hungary has imposed a temporary ban on grain and oilseed imports from Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by DW, referring to the Hungarian government, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“The government is committed to representing the interests of the Hungarian farming community, which is why, in the absence of meaningful European Union measures, it is temporarily prohibiting the import of grain and oilseeds, as well as a number of other agricultural products, to Hungary from Ukraine,” Hungarian Agriculture Minister István Nagy said.

In his words, Ukrainian agricultural producers use methods that are prohibited in the EU, which allows them to avoid unnecessary costs and export to the European market a large amount of poultry meat, eggs and honey in addition to grain and oilseed crops. As a result, Central European farmers are deprived of the opportunity to sell their own products.

According to Hungary’s Agriculture Ministry, the ban will remain in effect until June 30, 2023. By then, Budapest expects the EU to revise the temporary abolition of customs duties on Ukrainian products and ensure fair market conditions for European agriculture.