Piotr Müller made the statement in an interview with Polish state news agency PAP on Sunday.
The Polish government spokesman said: “We are in constant working contact with the European Commission in connection with the decision that has been taken.”
He added: “We stress that this decision has been possible thanks to a clause regarding safety.”
EU asks Poland for more information about ban
Earlier on Sunday, European Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta told reporters that Brussels was aware of the ban on agri-food products from Ukraine announced by Poland and Hungary.
She added that the Commission had asked both Warsaw and Budapest to provide information about these measures.
Podesta stated: “In this context, it should be emphasised that trade policy belongs to the exclusive competence of the EU, and therefore unilateral actions are unacceptable."
She added, as quoted by the Ukrainska Pravda website: "In such difficult times, it is extremely important to coordinate and approve all decisions in the EU."
Ban on Ukrainian grain designed “to protect Poland’s food security’: officials
The Polish government spokesman told PAP on Sunday: “The decision to ban imports, including transit, of agri-food products from Ukraine has been taken due to the lack of other ways to ensure food security and stabilise the situation on the market."
Müller noted that Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary last month sent a letter to the European Commission detailing the risks to food security and market disturbances caused by an inflow of grain and agricultural products from Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Poland’s Agriculture Minister Robert Telus confirmed that the ban on agri-food products from Ukraine took effect on Saturday.
He said the measure was designed to “protect Polish farmers” and “Poland’s food security,” but also “to point out to the European Commission that countries further inside the bloc should also help Ukraine.”
The Polish agriculture minister told PAP: ”The priority is to ensure the food security of the Polish people. But also, for some time we have been fighting for several issues in the EU.”
He added: “The European Commission has lifted tariffs on Ukrainian products, for reasons of which we are well aware. The Commission has launched solidarity corridors, which we also understand. Now it’s necessary for the Commission to introduce measures to ensure that products from Ukraine flow deeper inside Europe and are distributed among various countries.”
Telus said: “The lifting of tariffs has meant that these products have stayed in the co-called ‘frontline’ countries, mainly in Poland. And that’s why our Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, with counterparts from fellow ‘frontline’ countries, asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to change this. To ensure that these products are distributed among other countries, so that the costs of helping Ukraine are spread across all EU member states, according to the principle of solidarity.”
The Polish agriculture minister told PAP: “I am convinced that our decision from Saturday, which I realise is a drastic and firm decision, will prompt the European Union and the European Commission to take action in this matter.”
‘We want to help Ukraine and seek a solution’
Telus said that Polish and Ukrainian officials would meet in Poland on Monday for further talks on the issue of import of agri-food products from Ukraine.
He told PAP: “We want to help Ukraine and seek a solution, but it needs to be done sensibly, so that all sides are satisfied.”
The agriculture minister added that “for Poland, for the Polish government and for the Polish people, helping Ukraine is very important.”
Poland bans import of agri-food products from Ukraine
The Polish government on Saturday announced it had imposed a ban on the import of grain and other food products from Ukraine to protect Poland’s agricultural sector, news outlets reported.
Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, said at a party convention in the village of Łyse, east-central Poland: "Today, the government decided on a regulation that prohibits the entry, importation of grain into Poland, but also dozens of other types of food from Ukraine."
The Polish government will also purchase grain to prop up prices and provide subsidies for farmers, Kaczyński announced.
Later on Saturday, Poland’s Development and Technology Minister Waldemar Buda signed a regulation officially prohibiting the transportation of agricultural products from Ukraine, such as grain, sugar, animal feed, meat, vegetables, and fruit, according to officials.
The ban was due to take effect immediately and remain in force until the end of June.
On Sunday, Poland’s Finance Ministry said in a statement that the embargo also applied to the import of agri-food products from Ukraine through EU countries, and to the transit of these products through Poland, the PAP news agency reported.
Hungary’s Agriculture Minister István Nagy on Sunday announced that Budapest would also temporarily ban the import of grain, oil seeds and other agricultural products from Ukraine, saying the measure was necessary “in the absence of meaningful EU measures,” according to US broadcaster CNN.
Poland grapples with influx of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products
According to public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency, Poland has imported roughly 2.8 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain since the Black Sea ports of Ukraine were blocked after Russia's invasion in February last year.
The significant influx of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine has led to a notable drop in prices, causing production to become unprofitable for Polish farmers.
The situation was compounded by reports of Polish mills acquiring grain that was supposed to be of Polish origin but actually came from Ukraine, according to news outlets.
As a result, farmers' organisations have staged protests across the country, prompting the resignation of Henryk Kowalczyk from the post of agriculture minister.
Kowalczyk has been replaced by Telus, who said last week that his country would seek to join forces with fellow neighbours of war-torn Ukraine to re-export Ukrainian grain to other parts of Europe.
Last month, Poland and four other EU countries sent a joint letter to the European Commission, demanding restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports, according to officials.
Monday is day 418 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, dziennik.pl, CNN, Ukrainska Pravda