Hungary adds honey, other products to Ukraine import ban
BUDAPEST, Hungary –
Hungary will add honey and sure meat merchandise to an inventory of meals objects it has quickly banned from being imported from Ukraine in an effort to alleviate market pressures on Hungarian farmers, a authorities minister stated Thursday.
Along with honey and meat, Hungary’s authorities has banned the import of 25 Ukrainian merchandise together with grains, oil seeds, flour, and cooking oil till June 30, minister Gergely Gulyas informed a news convention. The authorities may also require shipments of these merchandise coming from third international locations to be monitored as they enter Hungary to ensure they don’t seem to be coming from Ukraine, he stated.
The import ban introduced on Saturday got here in response to what the federal government says is a glut of Ukrainian agricultural merchandise on the Hungarian market which has made it unattainable for Hungarian farmers to stay aggressive.
Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria have taken comparable steps within the final week, arguing that their agricultural sectors had been damage after the European Union lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to ease exports when Russia’s struggle choked off shipments by way of conventional routes.
“We’ve seen in the last weeks and months that it has ruined the Hungarian agricultural market,” Gulyas stated. “We are glad to help Ukraine, but we must see clearly that solidarity cannot ruin Hungarian farmers, the Hungarian economy and especially Hungarian agriculture.”
The EU on Wednesday signalled that it was prepared to deal with the issues of farmers in international locations neighbouring Ukraine. Proposals by the European Commission embrace an preliminary help package deal of 56.3 million euros for probably the most affected farmers within the front-line international locations with the opportunity of a second package deal of 100 million euros.
Gulyas on Thursday stated that regardless of the import ban, transit of Ukrainian merchandise throughout Hungary can be permitted, however that such shipments can be tracked electronically and with patrols as they transfer throughout Hungarian territory.
A authorities spokesperson additionally introduced Thursday that the federal government would require grocery chains to enact reductions on numerous meals merchandise in an effort to curb Hungary’s 47% yearly improve on meals costs, the best within the EU.
Food merchandise will likely be divided into 20 classes, and every retailer will likely be required to supply at the least one product from every class at a ten% low cost from that product’s lowest value within the final 30 days. The coverage will have an effect on the biggest meals sellers, and will not apply to smaller shops, spokesperson Alexandra Szentkiralyi informed a news convention.
“It is not the goal for food chains to achieve the highest profits and income in their history in these times,” Szentkiralyi stated. “There is no room for profiteering in these difficult times.”
The coverage will take impact no later than July 1, she stated.
