Hungary will not extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian honey

Honey

Hungary

Regulation & Compliances

Market & Price Trends

Published Mar 28, 2024

Tridge summary

Hungary has opted not to reimpose a ban on Ukrainian honey imports, despite local farmers' protests over the negative impact of cheaper Ukrainian honey on their earnings. Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy explained that the previous ban did not boost wholesale purchase prices as anticipated and negatively affected honey packaging and exporting companies within the EU. This decision reflects a shift from last year's protective measures against Ukrainian agricultural imports under Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Notably, the EU, including Hungary, primarily imports its honey from China and Ukraine, with Ukrainian honey constituting 25% of the EU's imports in the first eight months of 2023.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

Hungary will not reinstate a ban on honey imports from Ukraine, despite protests from its farmers, who say cheap honey from Ukraine is driving down prices and threatening to put them out of business. This is reported by Reuters. Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy told the newspaper that the unilateral import ban did not have a positive impact on the Hungarian market, as wholesale purchase prices did not increase as local farmers had hoped. At the same time, it harmed companies that package and export honey to EU countries. According to him, honey exporters need Ukrainian honey, because otherwise they will not be able to fulfill contractual deliveries. Asked whether the government is considering reintroducing the ban on imports, he replied: "No, because it has no effect." The majority of honey imports to the European Union come from China and Ukraine. According to the European Commission, in January-August 2023, Ukrainian imports accounted for 25% of EU honey imports. Last year, the ...

Source: Agroconf