Food blockades lifted

AS announced by the European Commission on Friday, April 28, five European nations have agreed, in principle, to lift their blockade on the transit of Ukrainian food exports.

Specifically, the governments of Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania and Hungary will all remove the temporary bans they implemented after farmers raised complaints about the entry of cheaper produce.

Grain and other Ukrainian products are traditionally exported via routes through the Black Sea. However, the conflict with Russia and the subsequent military activities in the region have forced exports to be moved overland using routes through neighbouring countries.

The problem subsequently arose of products entering the markets at a cheaper price. Members of the EU voted to allow the import of goods from Ukraine without quantitative restrictions with customs and official inspections also being scrapped.

This led to serious protests by farmers in the five aforementioned nations after the price of similar home­produced products slumped. In order to appease their agricultural sector, restrictions were placed on these imports from Ukraine.