Brussels:
The European Union said on Friday it was ending an import ban on Ukrainian grain in five member states after Kiev vowed to control exports.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has closed Black Sea shipping routes used before the war, making the EU a major transit route and export destination for Ukrainian grain.
But in May the EU began restricting grain imports to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, in a bid to protect their farmers who blamed the imports for a drop in prices on local markets.
The European Commission said “existing measures will expire today” when they expire at midnight.
“Market distortions in the five Member States bordering Ukraine have disappeared,” the EU executive said.
The committee said the decision was made after Kiev agreed to introduce measures such as an export licensing system within 30 days to “prevent grain increases.”
In the meantime, it said Ukraine would take measures to control exports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seed to avoid disrupting markets in its EU neighbors.
The move will please Ukraine, which pushed the EU to drop the measures amid a diplomatic row with Poland.
But it could infuriate Warsaw after Polish authorities said they would unilaterally extend restrictions even if EU measures expire.
The measures allowed the products to continue to travel through the five countries, but prevented them from being sold on the local market.
The issue is particularly sensitive in Poland, where elections will take place next month.
The current populist right-wing government of the Law and Justice party has strong support in the agricultural regions.
Russia’s chokehold on grain exports from agricultural power Ukraine has fueled global concerns about grain supplies.
Moscow pulled the plug on a United Nations agreement to allow exports through the Black Sea in July and has since stepped up attacks on Ukrainian export facilities.
The EU has strengthened other land and river routes that have been used to export more than 44 million tons of grain from Ukraine since the invasion.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)