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Ministry of Agriculture: Domestic food supply must be protected

The war has created an exceptional situation for the European and Hungarian food economy, as Ukraine is the fourth-largest food supplier to the EU. The Hungarian government has therefore taken a responsible decision to maintain the security of domestic supplies, the minister of agriculture said.

István Nagy said that grain and feed prices have risen radically due to Ukrainian products falling out of the market; the fear of shortages has also led to a significant increase in demand for Hungarian agricultural products from abroad.

The minister stressed the need to protect Hungarian farmers and Hungarian families from economic and supply problems, which is the main task of the government. Therefore, the government has decided that by May 15, 2022, any person or company planning to export wheat, rye, barley, oats, maize, soybeans and sunflowers from Hungary to foreign countries must notify the National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) in advance, the minister said.

If the export of the notified agricultural product would jeopardize the security of the domestic supply, the state may exercise its right of pre-emption (purchase option) and will inform the notifier within 30 days of its intention to exercise this right. The notification obligation does not apply to exports in transit from Hungary and humanitarian aid.

Photo credit: kormany.hu