On September 23, Polish Ambassador to the European Union (EU) Andrzej Sados announced the first step regarding the settlement of the Ukrainian grain dispute.
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| Polish Ambassador to the European Union (EU) Andrzej Sados. (Source: pap) |
Specifically, Warsaw asked Kiev to withdraw the complaint previously filed with the World Trade Organization (WTO), and said Warsaw was waiting for the action plan of the European Commission (EC).
The EC has scheduled a meeting of the Ukrainian grain regulator on 28 September in Brussels. Poland has previously informed the EC and other EU member states that it will withdraw from the regulator and will hold grain negotiations in the form of meetings between EU ambassadors of member states and the EC.
According to Ambassador Sados, issues related to the common agricultural policy and the situation of European farmers will be the subject of discussion by the Permanent Representatives Committee or another ministerial body of the European Council and the EC that will also participate in these meetings.
He also stressed that for Ukraine, the first step in resolving the grain dispute would be for Kiev to withdraw its complaint from the WTO. The Polish diplomat said that Poland was awaiting details of the action plan, which was announced in the EC statement on September 15, but noted that if it were published, the plan "should extend to measures to prevent instability in countries where there is an uncontrolled influx of goods."
Previously, Ukraine promised to present a plan related to the grain issue before September 18, but so far Kiev has not done so.
On September 15, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia unilaterally extended the ban on Ukrainian grain imports into the EU after the bloc’s restrictions expired, a move that drew a strong reaction from Kiev. Ukraine’s Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said Kiev considered the decision by the three countries “unlawful.”
On September 18, Ukraine filed a complaint with the WTO, while three EU member states announced they would boycott meetings of the coordination forum in response to Kiev's actions.
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