Ukraine is taking the question of its grain exports through Europe to the World Trade Organization.
In an interview with Politico published on Monday, Ukrainian Trade Representative Taras Kachka said her country would be suing Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia for blocking sales of Ukrainian agricultural products in their countries.
The mini trade war started last year when the EU commission lifted trade barriers with Ukraine to allow its agricultural products, including wheat, eggs, and oil seeds, into the EU, in theory, so that they could pass through the so-called “solidarity lanes” in into the global market to reach poorer regions such as North Africa that rely on the imports. The measure was meant to counteract the Russian blockade of the Black Sea, the main trade route out of Ukraine.
But the tough logistics of moving millions of tonnes of wheat and other products caused certain EU markets, particularly those near the Ukrainian border, to be flooded with Ukrainian goods, further complicating already tough conditions for EU farmers in Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.
The EU Commission finally allowed the ban on sales of Ukrainian goods in the member states bordering Ukraine while allowing the goods to enter in order to transit through to global markets.
The agreement was up for renewal on September 15th, and Poland had led the advocacy for maintaining the sales ban. This time, the EU Commission ignored the member states and lifted the ban on sales in border countries in renewing the trade agreement between the EU and Ukraine, on the grounds that “the market distortions in the 5 Member States bordering Ukraine have disappeared.”
It also touted that Ukraine had agreed to voluntary measures to slow exports to the EU should markets become flooded again.
But Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary have decided to maintain the sales ban in their countries.
In response, Ukraine has ended its cooperative tactics for a more direct attack—suing the countries through the World Trade Organization.
“It is important to prove that these actions are legally wrong. And that’s why we will start legal proceedings tomorrow,” Kachka told Politico Sunday evening,
She also said that Ukraine was preparing trade retaliations with Poland by blocking its imports of fruits and vegetables into her country.
The move is not just practical but also political.
Ukraine hopes to make an example of the three countries by suing them via the WTO.
“I think that all the world should see how member states in the EU behave towards trade partners and their own Union because it can influence other states as well,” she said.
The current governments of Poland and Hungary face constant criticism from the EU for their conservative policies.
The Ukrainian government’s decision to sue the three countries points to a belligerent undercurrent towards those who oppose support for it.
