EU Ends Ukraine Crop Import Ban, Heightening Trade Tensions
- Ukraine agrees to take steps to prevent grain surges, EU says
- Poland, Hungary extend unilteral ban despite bloc’s move
A farmer harvests a wheat field in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine.
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The European Union is ending a ban on Ukrainian crop imports in five of its eastern countries in a move that prompted Poland and Hungary to announce a return to unilateral restrictions.
The bloc will allow the measure — which applies to Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia — to expire as scheduled on Friday, it said in a news release, adding that the market distortions have disappeared. The limited ban was established after several EU nations slapped restrictions on Ukrainian produce earlier in the year, as farmers complained a supply glut was lowering local prices.