The National Federation of Producers in Agriculture, the Food Industry and Related Services from Romania -,,PRO AGRO", the League of Associations of Agricultural Producers from Romania -,,LAPAR" and the Union of the National Branch of Cooperatives in the Vegetable Sector -,,UNCSV" addressed a position paper to the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Werner IOHANNIS, the Prime Minister of Romania, Mr. Marcel CIOLACU, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Florin-Ion uț BARBU, the Minister of Transport, Mr. Sorin GRINDEANU and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Luminița ODOBESCU, through which they expressed concern about the liberalization of imports of agricultural products from Ukraine and requested the regulation of this situation to avoid a major crisis in agriculture in Romania.

In the context in which countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia have already requested the extension of the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, professional associations in the agricultural field in Romania believe that a similar approach is necessary to protect the interests of local farmers and ensure the stability of the agricultural sector.

PRO AGRO, LAPAR and UNCSV represent a common platform of professional associations and organizations in the agricultural field, with the aim of promoting the interests and sustainable development of agriculture in Romania.

Through this position paper, the representatives of the mentioned organizations want to draw the authorities' attention to the negative impact that the liberalization of imports of agricultural products from Ukraine can have on farmers and agricultural cooperatives in Romania.

Massive imports of agricultural products from Ukraine can lead to a significant drop in prices and unfair competition for Romanian producers. There is also the risk of introducing on the market agricultural products of lower quality or that do not comply with European standards, which can affect the image and reputation of Romanian agriculture.

For these reasons, the organizations request the President Klaus Iohannis to be actively involved at the highest level and to support the steps to regulate imports of agricultural products from Ukraine, taking into account the measures already taken by other member states of the European Union.

In this sense, PRO AGRO, LAPAR and UNCSV propose that Romania request at the European level the extension of the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine until a rigorous assessment of the impact on European agriculture is carried out and appropriate measures are established to protect domestic producers.

At the same time, the three organizations propose a series of measures aimed at:

-Separation of agricultural products according to provenance/origin (Romania, EU, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, other third countries) and elimination of prioritization of goods of Ukrainian origin in the Port of Constanța and customs points, to the detriment of agricultural products from Romania.

- Respect for the Solidarity Corridors and the establishment of more rigorous controls at Romania's borders regarding products from Ukraine, which transit the territory of our country, through the active and rapid involvement of all Romanian state institutions responsible in this regard.

-Expansion of the list of products subject to the ban on imports from Ukraine to include barley, soybeans, flour and sorghum.

-Extension of the ban on imports from Ukraine until June 14, 2024.

- Traceability and ensuring compliance with EU production standards for agricultural products from Ukraine.

- Granting the approved compensations to the affected farmers as quickly as possible.

-Ensuring compliance with the same transit conditions for Ukrainian products as for Romanian products.

-Ensuring reciprocity in the achievement of the CAP objectives in order not to reduce the competitiveness of agricultural producers and not to trigger unfair competition between agri-food products from the EU and those from outside the EU, a situation practically encountered in the last 12 months.

The signatories of the document also express their confidence that President Klaus Iohannis, together with all the national authorities, will pay due attention to this situation, at the highest diplomatic level, and will support the efforts to protect the interests of the agri-food sector, thus ensuring the stability and sustainable development of Romania, including through the public statements they make and the official documents they sign, and will no longer prioritize the interest of another country before the country they lead.