According to Government Minister, Gergely Gulyás, Hungary will add honey and certain meat products to a list of food items it has temporarily banned from being imported from Ukraine in an effort to relieve market pressures on Hungarian farmers.
The Minister disclosed at a news conference on Thursday, April 20, 2023, that along with honey and meat, Hungary’s government has banned the import of 25 Ukrainian products including grains, oil seeds, flour, and cooking oil until June 30, 2023.
The government will also require shipments of those products coming from third countries to be monitored as they enter Hungary to make sure they are not coming from Ukraine, he added.
The initial import ban announced on Saturday, April 15, 2023, came in response to what the government says is a surplus of Ukrainian agricultural products on the Hungarian market which has made it impossible for Hungarian farmers to remain competitive.
Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria have taken similar steps in the last week, arguing that their agricultural sectors had been hurt after the European Union lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to ease exports when Russia’s war choked off shipments through traditional routes.
“We’ve seen in the last weeks and months that it has ruined the Hungarian agricultural market,” Gulyás averred.
“We are glad to help Ukraine, but we must see clearly that solidarity cannot ruin Hungarian farmers, the Hungarian economy and especially Hungarian agriculture.”
Gergely Gulyás
Gulyás iterated that despite the import ban, transit of Ukrainian products across Hungary would be permitted, however, such shipments would be tracked electronically and with patrols as they move across Hungarian territory.
On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, the European Union (EU) indicated that it was willing to address the concerns of farmers in countries neighboring Ukraine. Proposals by the European Commission include an initial support package of 56.3 million euros for the most affected farmers in the front-line countries with the possibility of a second package of 100 million euros.
The European Commission, which as the EU’s executive branch manages trade bloc-wide, warned that EU trade policy is shaped collectively and not by each member country.
The commission is bent on helping the beleaguered government of Ukraine to bring the country’s agricultural products to world markets, both to alleviate global food insecurity and to provide the invaded nation with much-needed income.
In a letter to the leaders of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, noted, “Unilateral measures can only play into the hands of the adversaries of Ukraine and should not erode our unwavering support for Ukraine.”
Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria have all temporarily banned imports of Ukrainian grain.
Grocery Chains To Enact Discounts On Various Food Products
Also on Thursday, Government Spokesperson, Alexandra Szentkirályi announced that the government will require grocery chains to enact discounts on various food products in an effort to curb Hungary’s 47% yearly increase on food prices, the highest in the EU.
Food products will be divided into 20 categories, and each store will be required to offer at least one product from each category at a 10% discount from that product’s lowest price in the last 30 days.
The policy will affect the largest food sellers, and won’t apply to smaller stores, Spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi professed at a news conference.
“It is not the goal for food chains to achieve the highest profits and income in their history in these times. There is no room for profiteering in these difficult times.”
Alexandra Szentkirályi
The policy will take effect no later than July 1, 2023, Szentkirályi said.
Global food commodity prices soared to the highest levels after the invasion of Ukraine and have been falling steadily since. However, food is still expensive for people in many places because of factors like droughts, trade restrictions and the high cost of buying imported food priced in dollars as some emerging economies’ currencies weaken.
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