Ukraine to File Complaint to WTO Over Grain Bans by Poland, Slovakia and Hungary

Ukraine stated on Monday it was submitting a criticism with the World Commerce Group in opposition to Poland, Slovakia and Hungary after the three international locations broke with the remainder of the European Union to ban imports of Ukrainian grain.

The international locations instituted their bans over the weekend, saying they have been essential to guard their very own farmers, who had complained that low cost grain from Ukraine — one of many world’s largest exporters — had inadvertently flooded their own markets, pushing down costs. Hoping to quell the unrest, the European Union had briefly banned Ukrainian agriculture imports in some international locations, together with the three that later imposed their very own bans within the hours after the European Union ban expired.

Ukrainian officers have protested the brand new bans, saying they threatened solidarity inside the bloc and compelled additional losses on Ukraine’s struggling exporters.

“It’s crucially vital for us to show that particular person member states can’t ban imports of Ukrainian items,” Ukraine’s financial system minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, stated in a statement on Monday. She added that Ukraine wanted “solidarity with them and safety of farmers’ pursuits.”

Though Ms. Svyrydenko’s assertion introduced that Ukraine had already filed its criticism, a spokesman for the World Commerce Group stated he was not conscious of any submitting on the matter having arrived on Monday.

Ukraine’s grain exports halted within the fast aftermath of the Russian invasion, however some exports resumed final 12 months through the Black Sea beneath an settlement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey. Russia pulled out of the deal in July, as soon as extra elevating the significance of overland export routes for Ukraine.

Regardless of Ukraine’s overtures to the W.T.O., Poland intends to face by the ban and believes it’s justified to defend the pursuits of Polish farmers, a spokesman for the Polish authorities, Piotr Muller, informed the Polish state news agency PAP on Monday.

Different Ukrainian allies within the bloc denounced the bans. Germany’s agriculture minister, Cem Ozdemir, criticized what he known as “part-time solidarity” with Ukraine.

The French agriculture minister, Marc Fesneau, stated in a post on X, previously referred to as Twitter, that the unilateral measures “threaten our collective efforts to protect world meals safety.”

Nataliia Novosolova and Steven Moity contributed translation.