Poland has no intention of lifting the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural produce

Poland currently sees no possibility of lifting its unilateral ban on imports of certain Ukrainian agricultural products, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Adam Nowak, said on Monday.

According to Poland, lifting this ban would harm the country’s agricultural market and local producers. 

“We see no possibility of revoking these decisions, namely the unilateral ban we have imposed, as this would harm the Polish agricultural market, Polish farmers and, most importantly in our view, consumers, " said A. Nowak in Brussels.

He emphasised that Ukraine had been granted liberalised access to the European Union (EU) market, without being required to comply with certain requirements and standards applicable to Polish farmers.

According to the minister, during the recent visit to Poland by the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, Christophe Hansen, the Polish side clearly set out its position on the necessity of existing market protection mechanisms.

„We made it clear that we see no possibility of abolishing this mechanism, as such trade liberalisation is not in Poland’s interests. This is the only way to stabilise the Polish agricultural market,“ – asserted A. Nowak.

In 2023, Poland, together with several other EU Member States, introduced unilateral restrictions on imports of certain Ukrainian agricultural products. At the time, these measures were justified by the need to protect local farmers from market disruption.

Following the entry into force of the updated EU–Ukraine trade agreement on 29 October 2025, Poland maintained the embargo on imports of wheat, maize, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and certain processed agricultural products from Ukraine.