The agricultural “round table” has come to an end. There are first ideas on how to speed up grain exports

On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Henryk Kowalczyk met with representatives of grain exporters. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture Rafał Romanowski and Chief Inspector of the State Plant and Seed Health Inspectorate Andrzej Chodkowski.

Simplification of phytosanitary procedures is expected

Representatives of exporters said that the problem when sending grain abroad is logistics and phytosanitary certificates. We are talking, among other things, about the low capacity of Polish ports due to the priority of coal transportation, which currently block berths and ships.

The Minister of Agriculture assured that grain is a priority and will have priority.

- Exporters informed the head of the Ministry of Agriculture that after removing this barrier they see opportunities to increase grain exports from Poland before harvest, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

The ministry said that in parallel with negotiations with grain exporters, negotiations were held with representatives of the Foreign Ministry. Diplomatic services confirmed that non-EU countries are interested in grain, including as part of humanitarian aid.

The chief inspector of the State Inspectorate for Plant Sanitation and Seed Production also reported on the improvement of phytosanitary checks.

“Chief Inspector for Plant Protection and Seed Inspection Andrzej Chodkowski invited exporters to take part in the work of the joint technical group. During the meeting, which will take place in the near future, all technical details regarding phytosanitary certificates will be discussed,” the ministry added.

The agricultural roundtable has ended

On Thursday, the agricultural round table ended, during which the Ministry of Agriculture and the protesting farmers came to an agreement. “However, we should not forget that the situation in agriculture is tragic,” said Michal Kolodziejczak, chairman of the Agrosoyuz.

The protest of the farmers was, at least for the moment, averted. On Wednesday evening, farmers and representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture reached an agreement that includes 11 points. However, this is not the end, as the chairman of the Agrosoyuz says, farmers will now check whether the minister will fulfill his declarations.

Suspension of grain inflow from Ukraine

According to Kolodzeychak, the most important point of the agreement is the introduction of tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural products entering Poland, and the suspension of its massive supply to the Polish market.

“I’m giving the minister two weeks to stop the cereal supply. If this is not done, we will show that we are able to act. Only the argument of force works against this force, and we do not forget about it, - said Kolodzeychak.

agreement with farmers

The 11-point agreement was signed on Wednesday evening. The first of the points concerned the restoration of customs duties and the introduction of deposits for transit and for agricultural and food products from Ukraine to the level of price equilibrium with prices on the Polish market. The following year, a commitment was made to introduce a “Shield for the Agri-Food Industry” in the amount of at least PLN 10 billion as compensation for the crisis in the grain, rapeseed and agri-food markets caused by Russian aggression. against Ukraine.

In the third point, it was in favor of photos from the Polish market until the end of June this year. surpluses of cereals and rapeseed through exports and energy use. The next paragraph highlights the need to amend the law on biofuels by the end of May this year in accordance with the annex prepared by the Polish Coalition of Biofuels and Protein Feed.