Poland introduces immediate ban on Ukrainian agricultural imports

Poland has implemented an immediate import ban on a wide range of agricultural products from Ukraine. The decision follows protests by Polish farmers, who claim that Ukrainian grain – imports of which have soared during the war – is lowering prices on the market.

In response, Ukraine’s government has announced that it “regrets” today’s decision by Poland, which it says is “contrary to arrangements” between the two countries. It has called for further talks to reach an agreement.

This afternoon, Poland’s development minister, Waldemar Buda, announced that, in accordance with a decision made by the cabinet, he had signed an order banning the import of 18 types of agricultural products from Ukraine, including grain, honey, wine, milk, eggs, and various meats.

The ban goes into force today and will remain in place until 30 June.

Earlier in the day, Jarosław Kaczyński, the chairman of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, had unveiled during a meeting with rural voters a four-point plan to support the countryside that included a ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine.

PiS is currently campaigning for votes in parliamentary elections that will take place this autumn, at which it is hoping to win a third term in government. Rural voters are one of the party’s key electorates.

Today’s decision nevertheless came as a surprise. On 7 April, agriculture minister Robert Telus announced after talks with Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solskyi that the two had agreed on the need for “very strongly limiting and even completely stopping” Ukrainian grain imports.

The details of their plan – which was meant to allow continued transit through Poland – were expected to be agreed yesterday. However, Telus announced at the last minute that the signing of the agreement had been postponed until Monday because “there is still a need to clarify some provisions”.

After Poland then today unilaterally introduced a ban, the Ukrainian agricultural ministry announced that it “regrets the decision by our Polish colleagues to temporarily limit exports to and through Poland (including transit) of agricultural products from Ukraine”.

It warned that trying to “solve issues through unilateral action will not accelerate the positive resolution of the situation”. Kyiv called for “mutual understanding and constructive dialogue” to find an agreement on “properly regulating the transit of agricultural products through the territory of Poland”.

“We understand that Polish farmers are in a difficult situation, but we emphasise that Ukrainian farmers are currently in the most difficult situation,” added the statement.

In response, Telus told the Polish Press Agency (PAP) that Poland remains “open” to finding a solution and confirmed that plans remain in place for further bilateral talks on Monday.

Since Russia’s invasion, Poland has been one of Ukraine’s closest allies. That has included efforts to help Kyiv export food products, especially grain, after its normal transport routes through the Black Sea were cut off by Russia.

The Polish government last year assured farmers that measures would be in place to prevent grain meant only to transit through Poland from entering the local market. But farmers say that this is exactly what has happened.

This week saw prosecutors launch an investigation into firms that have allegedly been relabelling Ukrainian grain meant for industrial purposes as Polish grain for food production and selling it to flour producers in Poland.

During his speech today, Kaczyński declared that “we are and remain without the slightest change friends and allies of Ukraine” and “will continue to support it”.

However, he added that it is the duty of any good government to protect the interests of its own citizens and he warned that a crisis in the Polish countryside have would negative effects for all Poles.

Other policies announced by Kaczyński today to support farmers include a state programme to purchase existing grain stocks – for which 600 million zloty (€129) has been allocated – so that the minimum price per tonne does not go below 1,400 zloty.

PiS also wants to continue providing subsidies to farmers for purchasing fertiliser. But Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, speaking after Kaczyński, said that this needs to be approved by the EU. Morawiecki also announced an increase in agricultural fuel subsidies to 2 zloty per litre from the 1.2 zloty announced in December.

Telus declared that there would be 2%-interest loans for farmers “to help them in this difficult situation” and that the government was planning measures to allow farmers to build storage silos without planning permission

Main image credit: Stan Petersen/Pixabay

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.