BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission said on Monday it had extended until September 15 an arrangement whereby five of Ukraine’s neighbours can ban domestic sales of Ukrainian grains, while allowing the grains to transit their countries.
The five – Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – had complained that the European Union’s liberalisation of all trade with Ukraine meant cheaper Ukrainian grain flooding in, making domestic production unprofitable.
The Commission, which oversees trade policy in the 27-nation European Union, had allowed the neighbours to set restrictions on imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds. This exception was to have lasted until Monday.
The grains can still be exported to other EU members or to outside the bloc. The Commission said a month ago that it could extend the restrictions if exceptional conditions persisted.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
