Bulgaria says the influx of cheap produce has destabilized the domestic market
Bulgaria has called on the European Commission to ban chicken eggs from Ukraine, claiming domestic producers are suffering from unfair competition due to the glut of cheap imports.
The proposal was made by Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Georgi Tahov at a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on Monday, according to the ministry.
Tahov said domestic production in Bulgaria has been severely hit by the influx of eggs from Ukraine, which are up to 30% cheaper than those on the local market.
Over 2,600 tons of eggs were exported by Ukraine to Bulgaria in the first half of 2024, five times more than in the first six months of last year, official data has shown.
This “puts serious pressure on prices on the domestic market” and has caused a wave of bankruptcies among Bulgarian poultry farms, Tahov noted.
“We firmly support the people of Ukraine, but this should in no way cause bankruptcies and violate the rights of our farmers,” the minister stressed.
Tahov said that if Bulgaria’s concerns are not addressed, the EU member state is ready to consider “protective measures” to limit trade with Ukraine.
Earlier this year, the European Parliament extended the suspension of all tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural imports into the EU until June 2025.
The free-trade scheme incorporates an “emergency brake” for poultry, eggs and sugar, meaning that tariffs could be re-imposed if inflows exceed the average levels of 2022 and 2023.
In 2022, the EU suspended tariffs and quotas for Ukrainian agricultural produce to enable grain and other farm products from Ukraine to be shipped to global markets.
However, a massive influx of cheap agricultural imports from the embattled nation has flooded Eastern European countries. Grain imports from Ukraine were at the core of farmer protests that swept the EU earlier this year.
