May 2 (SeeNews) - The European Commission has reached a political agreement in principle with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia regarding their imports of agri-food products from Ukraine, EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said.
"The European Commission will propose emergency safeguard measures for four most sensitive agricultural products -- wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed," Dombrovskis said as seen in a video published on social media on Friday.
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Dombrovskis added that the Commission will make available a support package of 100 million euro ($109.5 million) to farmers in the five EU member states most affected by agri-food imports from Ukraine. In return, the five countries will withdraw unilaterally imposed restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agri-food products.
"We have acted to address concerns of both farmers in neighbouring EU countries and Ukraine," Dombrovskis also said.
Last month, in quick succession, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria decided to temporarily ban imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine to tackle the glut on their markets in the wake of widely voiced concerns that a solidarity measure adopted to help Ukrainian farmers in the wake of Russia's invasion was hurting local producers. While Romania did not block these imports, it took steps to seal off grain and oilseed cargo transiting the country.
In response to the bans introduced by the five EU member states, the Commission put forth a three-point proposal, offering the support package in addition to the already provided financial aid of 56.3 million euro.
($ = 0.9131 euro)