POLAND – MEASURES CONCERNING AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS FROM UKRAINE REQUEST FOR CONSULTATIONS BY UKRAINE
Document: REQUEST FOR CONSULTATIONS BY
Date: 21 September 2023
Document codes: WT/DS619/1; G/L/1487; G/AG/GEN/224
Complainant: Ukraine
Respondent: Poland
Dispute stage: Consultation
Agreements cited: Art. 4.2, 5  AgricultureArt. V:2, X:1, XI:1  GATT 1994

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 the 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 agricultural 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 Regulation 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.
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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 Commission 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 prohibitions 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 manner 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 products 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.
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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 of 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 stated 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
predictable 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.