“SERIOUS DISTURBANCES”
Earlier on Wednesday, Hungary’s government widened its temporary ban on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to include honey, wine, bread, sugar and a range of meat and vegetable products.
The list of items to be banned were revealed in a government decree, after Budapest announced last Saturday a measure to halt the import of grain, oilseeds and several other products.
Budapest complained that a significant proportion of imported Ukrainian products do not leave the EU, and instead have been sold at dumping prices in the member states.
Orban’s spokesman Zoltan Kovacs on Wednesday denounced “the sudden influx of cheap products” that has created an “untenable situation” for European farmers.
“In the absence of the obligation to comply with the strict production rules required by EU law, Ukrainian products have a competitive advantage … which causes serious disturbances in the internal market of the member states,” the decree stated.
Hungary’s decree, published overnight, said that its ban would also apply to flour, cooking oil and wine imports.
The temporary ban will last from Wednesday until Jun 30. Yet, it will not apply to the transit of these products through Hungary, the decree specified.
Hungarian authorities will seal shipments of the affected products at the border and monitor them with the help of electronic devices and patrols, it added.
Carriers who break the rules may be fined up to the full value of the shipment.
Poland and Ukraine on Tuesday struck a deal to allow Ukrainian grain to transit through Poland after Warsaw banned imports.
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