Farmers from Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are set to protest in Brussels on Tuesday 23 May over excessive imports from Ukraine.

Farm organisation representatives from the five countries have said in a joint letter that their farmers are currently facing a rapid decline in prices and a lack of demand for cereals and oilseeds due to an excess of supply over demand.

International trade in agri-food commodities with Ukraine has been liberalised for another year and, in the letter, it stated that the compensation paid to some countries is far below the level needed.

"Stocks are at 150% of the level typical for this time of the year, next harvest starts in less than one month and there is a real possibility that there will be no one to sell to and no place to store grains and oilseeds from the upcoming harvest," the letter stated.

Demands

The letter sets out their demands, with the reinstatement of customs duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural and food products for front line countries and nearby affected countries top of the list.

They have also called for both spatial and temporal extension of the temporary precautionary measures on imports from Ukraine until at least 14 June 2024, so that the remaining storage capacity can be used to store EU cereals after the new harvest.

"We hope for a speedy end to the unprovoked military conflict in Ukraine and we support the provision of aid to Ukraine, but such aid must not jeopardise the viability and competitiveness of European Union farmers or lead to their liquidation," the letter said.