WT/DS619/1  
G/L/1487  
G/AG/GEN/224  
 
21 September 2023  
(23-6284) Page: 1/3 
  Original: English  
 
POLAND – MEASURES CONCERNING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FROM UKRAINE  
REQUEST FOR CONSULTATIONS BY UKRAINE  
The following communication, dated  18 September 2023 , from the delegation of Ukraine  to the 
delegation of Poland , is circulated to the Dispute Settlement Body in accordance with Article 4.4 of 
the DSU.  
 
_______________  
 
 
I have been instructed by my authorities to request consultations with the Republic of Poland 
pursuant to Article XXIII of the General Agreement on  Tariffs and Trade of 1994 ("GATT 1994"), 
Article 19 of the Agreement on Agriculture, and Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and 
Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes ("DSU") concerning measures of the Republic of 
Poland affecting the import ation of certain agricultural products from Ukraine.  These measures 
adversely affect exports that are of key significance for Ukraine's economy, at the time when Russia's 
illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression has had a devastating impact  on Ukraine's 
economy and its ability to trade with other WTO Members.  
Pursuant to Article 4.4 of the DSU, Ukraine describes below the reasons for this request, including 
the identification of the measures at issue and an indication of the legal basis for the complaints.  
I. BACKGROUND TO THE DISPUTE  
On April 15, 2023, Minister of Economic Development and Technology  of the Republic of Poland 
adopted Order 717, which imposed a ban on the importation of a wide range of agricultural products 
from Ukraine, apparently including a ban on the transit of these goods via Poland's territory.1 This 
Order was replaced with Order 751 of April 21, 2023, which applied, until June 30, 2023, an import 
prohibition on the same broad list of agricultural goods of Ukrainian origin, while exempting goods 
in transit from this ban.2  
 
These measures  of the Republic of Poland were subsequently replaced  by certain import prohibitions 
at the EU level. In particular, on May 2, 2023, the EU Commission decided to prohibit t he importation 
of four categories of Ukrainian agricultural products into the Republic of Poland, Hungary, the Slovak 
Republic, Romania, and the Republic of Bulgaria until June 5, 2023, with the possibility of extending 
this measure. This prohibition was i ntroduced through Article 1 of Regulation (EU) 2023/903 of 
May 2, 2023, which stated as follows:  
 
 
1 The goods at issue were: cereals, sugar, dried fodder, seeds, hops, flax and hemp, fruit and 
vegetables, processed fruit and vegetable products, wine, beef and veal, milk and milk products, pork, mutton 
and goat meat, eggs, poultry meat, ethyl alcohol of a gricultural origin, bee products, and other products, such 
as various live animals, fresh or chilled carcasses of meat, and edible offal, within the meaning of Parts I, III -
VI, VIII -X, XII, XV -XXII, and XXIV of Annex to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and 
of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural 
products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) 
No 1234/2007, OJ L 347/671,  20.12.2013. See Annex to Regulation 717 of 15 April 2023 at: 
https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20230000717 .   
2 See R egulation 751 of 21 April 2023 of Minister of Economic Development and Technology of the 
Republic of Poland, https://isap.sejm.gov.pl/isap.nsf/DocDetails.xsp?id=WDU20230000751 .   WT/DS619/1 • G/L/1487 • G/AG/GEN/224  
 
- 2 - 
 
  Except for the execution of contracts that were signed before the entry into force of 
this Regulation, the release for free circulation or placing under the customs 
warehousing, free zone or inward processing procedures of the products listed in the 
Annex to this Regulation originating in Ukraine, shall only be allowed in Member States 
other than Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania or Slovakia.3  
 
The EU Commi ssion subsequently extended this prohibition until September 15, 2023 through 
Regulation (EU) 2023/1100 of June 5, 2023.4  
 
The EU's import prohibition is not currently in force. On September 16, 2023, the EU Commission 
concluded that the temporary measur es introduced on May 2, 2023 had contributed sufficiently to 
the elimination of the market distortions in the five EU Member States bordering Ukraine. The EU 
authorities thus decided not to extend the measure.5   
 
However, despite the decision of the EU C ommission the Republic of Poland announced on 
September 16, 2023, that its own ban on Ukrainian grain came into force on September 15, 2023, 
through Order 1898, which extended a ban on the importation of the products prohibited previously 
by the EU Commiss ion Implementing Regulation 2023/1100 of June 5, 2023, adding to the list  wheat 
flour (11010015) and meal/bran (23021090, 23023010, 23023090, 23064100, 23064900)6. 
 
II. IDENTIFICATION OF THE MEASURES AT ISSUE  
The measure at issue is the import prohibition s on various agricultural goods originating in Ukraine, 
as described in Section I above, whether applied by the national authorities of the Republic of Poland 
through the instruments referred to in Section I above or any other applicable instruments.  
Ukraine's request for consultations  also concerns any other instrument , modifying, supplementing, 
complementing, developing, or in any manner relating to the measures at issue.  This request is 
intended to address current laws, regulations, policies and practic es, as well as any changes or 
amendments to those laws, regulations, policies or practices that may be in process or may be 
implemented in the future by the Republic of Poland, or at the EU level.  
 
III. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE COMPLAINT  
The measures at issue, as described in Section II above, appear to be inconsistent with several 
provisions of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization ("WTO Agreement"). In 
particular, these measures would appear to be inconsistent with:  
(i) Article XI:1 of  the GATT 1994, as they prohibit or restrict the importation of agricultural 
goods from Ukraine to the territories of the Republic of Poland;  
(ii) Article V:2 of the GATT 1994 to the extent that the measure of the Republic of Poland 
either de jure  or de facto restricts freedom of transit of Ukrainian agricultural goods 
through the territory of Poland to other EU Member States;  
(iii) Article X:1 of the GATT 1994, as the Republic of Poland failed to publish its regulations 
at issue promptly in such a manne r as to enable the Government of Ukraine and traders 
to become acquainted with them;  
(iv) Article 4.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture, as the Republic of Poland have maintained, 
resorted to, or reverted to measures of the kind which have been required to be 
 
3 The goods at issue are: wheat and meslin (1001), maize (corn) (1005), rape or colza seeds (1205), 
and sunflower seeds (1206). See Article 1 and Annex of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/903 
of 2 May 2023  introducing preventive measures concerning certain products originating in Ukraine, OJ L 114 
I/1, 2.5.2023 (Regulation 2023/903).  
4 Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1100 of 5 June 2023 introducing preventive 
measures concerning certain product s originating in Ukraine, OJ  LI 144/1, 5.6.2023 (Regulation 2023/1100).       
5 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_4497 . 
6 https://dziennikustaw.gov.pl/DU/2023/1898.  WT/DS619/1 • G/L/1487 • G/AG/GEN/224  
 
- 3 - 
 
  converted into ordinary customs duties, such as import prohibitions and restriction on 
Ukrainian agricultural goods; and  
(v) Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture to the extent that it is applicable, because, 
inter alia , neither the EU, nor the Repu blic of Poland does not appear to have reserved 
their right to apply measures that fall under the scope of this provision to most of the 
products at issue in their Schedule of Concessions under the GATT 1994; these measures 
take the form of a ban instead o f a duty; and these measures are discriminatory as they 
apply only to Ukrainian imports and not also to other WTO Members' imports.  
Ukraine notes that these consultations might give rise to other matters having legal implications 
that are not expressly st ated in this request but relate to other WTO obligations of the Republic of 
Poland. With a view to facilitating a wide -ranging exchange of views, Ukraine notes that, if such 
were to be the case, these matters would also be covered by the scope of this requ est for 
consultations.  
 
Ukraine remains a reliable and predictable trading partner. Despite destruction of traditional 
agricultural supply chains due to the Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, it is poised to 
continue guaranteeing Europe's and glob al food security and providing European and world 
consumers with high -quality Ukrainian products. In this context, it is critical that the Republic of 
Poland do not take any steps to restrain or restrict trade and continues to pursue an open and 
predictabl e trade policy, based on the provisions and principles of the WTO Agreement.  
I look forward to receiving your reply to this request and to fixing a mutually convenient date for 
consultations.  
 
__________