Bulgaria temporarily bans food imports from Ukraine as of April 24, transit corridors remain open

At a meeting on April 19, Bulgaria's Council of Ministers adopted a decision that temporarily restricts the access of a number of products originating in Ukraine to the territory of Bulgaria, the caretaker Minister of Agriculture, Yavor Gechev, said at a briefing.

The decision will come into force on 24 April and will be in effect until 30 June, 2023.

"Bulgaria followed in practice the example of three other countries, with the concern that first: our market is really glutted enough with crops, we have produce worth several billion, which we believe that if we do not take additional measures, it will be difficult to sell and we will suffer serious losses. Our third argument is that, in any case, the corridors already closed in a number of European countries, will be redirected to the corridor through Romania and then through Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Government is reacting according to the information and powers it has. Including, there is a serious concerns from neighbouring countries about the phytosanitary quality of a number of products. You know that some of the countries have products that have been downgraded and have tested positive for products that are not authorised in the EU. The decision was taken on this basis," said Yavor Gechev.

This decision excludes the transit of goods to third countries.

"Solidarity corridors must continue to be implemented," the caretaker agriculture minister said.

"We believe that a sustainable solution would be pan-European. Today’s decision is a last resort, but we had no other alternative because several countries took unilateral measures and the risk for Bulgaria increased significantly. The experts have analysed the measures. Our support for Ukraine continues. Today, we will have a meeting with the European Commission. There is a more serious understanding on their part of how important this issue is for us. 16% of employment is in agriculture, over 7 billion in produce. We cannot allow Bulgarian producers to be affected in this way. We are continuing the dialogue with the Commission. We guarantee transit through the territory of Bulgaria. We are waiting for a lasting decision from the EC, ensuring that these are corridors of solidarity, and that the produce does not remain in the countries near the conflict," said for his part the caretaker Minister of the Economy.

The ban applies to more than 20 goods:

Soft and hard wheat, wheat flour, sunflower seeds, sunflower oil, corn, honey and bee products, raw milk, dry milk, milk concentrate, walnuts, hazelnuts, eggs, poultry, pork, sheep and goat meat, rye, barley, oatmeal, sorghum, buckwheat, starches, inulin, wheat gluten, soybeans, flaxseed, canola, wine, wine vinegar, ethyl alcohol.

The prohibition will not apply to goods in transit through the territory of Bulgaria, provided that the consignments are in specialised means of transport, sealed at the border, without allowing their unloading and reloading on the territory of Bulgaria. The prohibition shall also not apply if the documents accompanying the consignment declare that the final destination of the cargo is not the Republic of Bulgaria.

The caretaker government’s decision takes into account the need to ensure the transit through the solidarity corridors of supplies of vital foodstuffs for the most deprived in third countries.