Romanian PM suggests banning Ukrainian agricultural products for another 30 days

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has said he will ask Romania’s Ministers of Agriculture and Economy to sign a joint order on the continuation of the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products for another 30 days.

Source: Ciolacu cited by RFI and European Pravda

Details: Ciolacu remarked that he is expecting his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal, to provide suggestions on 18 September concerning the licensing of grain exports, which he will discuss.

"As you see, the European Commission has demanded the introduction of a licensing system for grain exports to EU countries. The Ukrainian Prime Minister has also stuck to the same logic, stating there will be strict control anyway," Ciolacu said.

He added that "not a single kilogram of wheat has been imported to Romania from Ukraine" since the European Commission’s decision not to extend the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products.

"If there are requests for export to Romania, I will certainly ask the Ministers of Agrarian Policy and Economy to sign a joint order that the restriction should be extended for 30 days until everything is clarified. I repeat, there are no requests, and I would like to assure farmers that it will not be like it was a year ago," Ciolacu stressed.

Background: On Friday, the European Commission announced that it would not extend restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine after 15 September, but Kyiv agreed to take measures to limit imports from its side.

However, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have decided to impose unilateral restrictions, with Warsaw saying their restrictions will remain in place indefinitely.

Ukraine has decided to file a complaint against these three countries to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

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