The head of the Ukrainian Agri Council, Andrii Dykun, on behalf of the members of the association, appealed to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, and the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, with a request to consider and support changes regarding veterinary control within the framework of the EU initiative "Paths of Solidarity" .

According to Andrii Dykun, the UAC proposal is to cancel veterinary control at the Ukrainian-Polish border for transportation of animal feed or forage grain, if the following 3 criteria are met:

1. The Cargo transits through the Republic of Poland to customs warehouses of other EU countries.
2. The EU country to which the cargo is sent agrees to carry out veterinary control on its territory in case the transit regime is terminated, which means the import of such products into the EU.
3. The EU country, to which the cargo is sent, has agreed to carry out veterinary control on its territory in case of redirection of such cargo to other countries.

"If furage grain or other feed of plant origin is exported in transit beyond the EU through an EU country that has agreed to participate in the mentioned initiative, veterinary control should not be carried out," the head of the UAC emphasized in his statement.

We will remind that from the beginning of 2023, the export of animal feed and grain feed of Ukraine began to slow down at the Ukrainian-Polish border. Thus, for the first half of March this year, the average daily passage of grain cargoes through railway checkpoints with the Republic of Poland decreased by 28% compared to the corresponding period in February. The indicator at the automobile checkpoints with the Republic of Poland for the first decade of March 2023 decreased to 10,444 tons/day, which is 36% less than last year's peak indicator (3 decade of September).

Drivers passing through the largest Yagodin-Dorogusk checkpoint have to wait for veterinary control for more than 10 days (previously no more than 5 days), and one train undergoes veterinary inspection for 4-5 days (previously no more than 1 day).

The slowdown in veterinary control is a consequence of the fact that since the beginning of the year, the Polish side canceled the possibility of veterinary control inside the country and additionally introduced strengthened veterinary control from March this year. As a result, almost every truck and wagon with animal feed and feed grain is checked at a Polish checkpoint.

The Ukrainian Agri Council understands and respects any measures of the Polish side, as it is one of the countries whose support is inevitable and extremely important for Ukraine. However, we are forced to appeal to the EU countries, since the export of Ukrainian agricultural products has become one of the most important segments of the country's economy in these difficult circumstances.