BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary will add honey and sure meat merchandise to an inventory of meals objects it has quickly banned from being imported from Ukraine in an effort to alleviate market pressures on Hungarian farmers, a authorities minister stated Thursday.

Along with honey and meat, Hungary’s authorities has banned the import of 25 Ukrainian merchandise together with grains, oil seeds, flour, and cooking oil till June 30, minister Gergely Gulyás advised a information convention. The authorities may even require shipments of these merchandise coming from third international locations to be monitored as they enter Hungary to verify they aren’t coming from Ukraine, he stated.

The import ban introduced on Saturday got here in response to what the federal government says is a glut of Ukrainian agricultural merchandise on the Hungarian market which has made it not possible for Hungarian farmers to stay aggressive.

Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria have taken related steps within the final week, arguing that their agricultural sectors had been damage after the European Union lifted duties on Ukrainian grain to ease exports when Russia’s warfare choked off shipments via conventional routes.

“We’ve seen in the last weeks and months that it has ruined the Hungarian agricultural market,” Gulyás stated. “We are glad to help Ukraine, but we must see clearly that solidarity cannot ruin Hungarian farmers, the Hungarian economy and especially Hungarian agriculture.”

The EU on Wednesday signaled that it was prepared to handle the considerations of farmers in international locations neighboring Ukraine. Proposals by the European Commission embrace an preliminary assist bundle of 56.3 million euros for probably the most affected farmers within the front-line international locations with the potential for a second bundle of 100 million euros.

Gulyás on Thursday stated that regardless of the import ban, transit of Ukrainian merchandise throughout Hungary could be permitted, however that such shipments could be tracked electronically and with patrols as they transfer throughout Hungarian territory.

A authorities spokesperson additionally introduced Thursday that the federal government would require grocery chains to enact reductions on numerous meals merchandise in an effort to curb Hungary’s 47% yearly improve on meals costs, the best within the EU.

Food merchandise shall be divided into 20 classes, and every retailer shall be required to supply a minimum of one product from every class at a ten% low cost from that product’s lowest worth within the final 30 days. The coverage will have an effect on the most important meals sellers, and received’t apply to smaller shops, spokesperson Alexandra Szentkirályi advised a information convention.

“It is not the goal for food chains to achieve the highest profits and income in their history in these times,” Szentkirályi stated. “There is no room for profiteering in these difficult times.”

The coverage will take impact no later than July 1, she stated.

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