Hungary bans import of 25 types of food from Ukraine and tightens transit rules

Hungary has banned imports of 25 types of agricultural products from Ukraine until July 1, allowing transit under enhanced control.

Source. The Hungarian government issued a decree "On measures related to the transportation of certain agricultural products originating from Ukraine," Interfax-Ukraine reports.

The list of products banned for import includes:

• fresh and chilled beef;
• frozen cattle meat;
• fresh, chilled or frozen pork;
• sheep or goat meat, fresh, chilled or frozen;
• Meat, offal and by-products of poultry fit for human consumption, fresh, chilled or frozen;
• eggs of birds in the shell, fresh, canned or boiled;
• natural honey;
• vegetables (including raw, steamed or cooked) frozen;
• rye, barley, corn; buckwheat, millet and canary seeds, other cereals;
• wheat flour and cereal flour;
• processed cereals;
• rapeseed or rapeseed seeds;
• sunflower seeds (in particular, crushed);
• sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oils and their fractions, unrefined or refined, but without change of chemical composition;
• rapeseed and mustard oil and their fractions, unrefined or refined, but without change of chemical composition;
• cane or beet sugar and chemically pure sucrose in solid form;
• bread, cakes, biscuits and other bakery products containing cocoa;
• rice paper and similar products;
• vegetables (except for candied vegetables), cooked or preserved without vinegar or acetic acid (except for tomatoes and edible mushrooms), unfrozen;
• wine made from fresh grapes; grape must (except for grape juice).

If the above-mentioned goods are delivered to the territory of Hungary in violation of the Regulation, the police or tax authorities may impose an administrative fine on the carrier in the amount of up to 100% of the value of the goods excluding VAT. Similar sanctions are provided for if the goods listed as prohibited for import are not exported from the country within 7 days from the date of entry, the document says.

When goods are moving through Hungary in transit, the authorized bodies attach special locks in such a way that they can only be broken during any removal of goods from the vehicle. The cargo is tracked using toll road payment systems and WIM data.

When installing the official lock, the name of the shipment, its volume, the name of the carrier, its address, if available, the address of the office in Hungary, the carrier's tax number, company registration number or FELIR identifier are registered.

The carrier must indicate the name of the country of delivery, the customer's e-mail and postal address, the payment account number, the owner of the vehicle, the identity of the driver using it, the license plate (in case of rail transport – the railway track number), the time and place of the planned departure from the territory of Hungary and the planned route.

The State Service of Transport Security of Ukraine also clarified that in case of transportation of agricultural products in transit by road, the truck must be sealed with seals that are installed during the execution of the T1 customs declaration.

As reported, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania have banned imports of Ukrainian agricultural goods, but allowed their transit. Ukrainian cargoes are mainly sent to ports on the Baltic Sea located in Poland and Germany, as well as to the Black Sea ports of Romania and Bulgaria.

Background. As a reminder, five EU countries are proposing to Brussels to expand the list of Ukrainian products that can be transported in transit.