News

Ukraine has announced to the World Trade Organization its intention to limit imports of nitrogen fertilizers from the EU from June 2020. The reason is the increase in imports of fertilizers by 37% between 2016 and June 2019, imports increased mainly from BG, LT, PL, but also Russia, Turkey, and Belarus, which reduces sales to Ukrainian fertilizer producers. The safeguard measures in place are to apply for a period of 3 years in the form of quotas. Total imports of nitrogen fertilizers from the EU and third countries will be limited to 1,422,107 tonnes during the first year. The quota will be increased by 2% in 2021 and 2022.
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Extreme droughts in Europe have also manifested themselves to a large extent in the Belgian agricultural region of West Flanders, where farmers have been banned from drawing water from the Yser River. Due to the dry season, the river level dropped below 2.9 meters, further water pumping would cause irreparable damage. The situation will have a negative impact on the Belgian agricultural sector, leading to a decline in agricultural production in 2020.
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On 02/06/2020, the EP Committee on Agriculture (COMAGRI) supported one of the proposals for crisis measures in the context of the coronavirus crisis in the wine, fruit, and vegetables sectors. The Commission proposal, submitted on 04/05/2020, was supported by 46 votes to 1, with 1 abstention. The Commission's second proposal of 30/04/2020 was rejected due to the insufficient assistance it offered. The motion was rejected by 36 votes to 11, with 1 abstention. COMAGRI calls for measures to be strengthened, including greater flexibility in the rules on national wine support programs and for an exceptional reinforcement of the maximum investment aid rates from 50% to 80%.
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On 03/06/2020, the European Commission published a report on the import of organic agricultural and food products into the EU in 2019. Imports of organic cereals decreased, while imports of tropical organic fruit and organic soybeans increased. The total import of organic food increased by 0.4% compared to the previous year, the current import of organic food represents about 2% of the total agricultural imports. The largest share of organic imports consists of cereals, vegetable oils, sugar, milk powder and butter (54%) and meat, fruit, vegetables, yoghurts, and honey (38%).
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On 02/06/2020, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the introduction of a new instrument to address structural competition issues. The consultation is open until 30/06/2020. The new competition instrument should enable the Commission to address gaps in existing competition rules and to take timely and effective action against structural cross-market competition concerns.
More information is available here.