The threat of disruption of the spring sowing season: Ukrainian farmers face blocking of fertilizer imports

Ukrainian farmers are facing a serious threat to the spring sowing campaign due to the blocking of mineral fertilizers intended for use in agriculture at customs. According to the companies, at least 12,000 tons of fertilizers from 20 different consignments that were imported by ship, rail and road are currently being blocked at customs. This blocking, which has been going on for a week now, is being carried out without any clear reason and in violation of the Customs Code.

According to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, the importing companies have submitted all the necessary documents, such as origin, route from the producer, and quality characteristics. Most of the fertilizers came from the European Union from well-known manufacturers.

The regulatory authorities are working on the initiative of the State Customs Service of Ukraine, which is taking samples for laboratory testing. However, employees do not allow the fertilizers to be cleared and transported to warehouses until the results of the test are available, which can take 10-30 days. This leads to significant losses due to transportation downtime and the threat of falling behind the contracted delivery schedule.

Oleh Khomenko, CEO of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, pointed out that the problem is not in the sampling itself, but in blocking the transportation of fertilizers to warehouses. This is a serious violation of the Customs Code, as usually the tests are conducted in parallel and do not interfere with the supply.

UCAB emphasized that this is not the first time that customs has blocked fertilizer imports at a critical time of the season, and similar situations occur annually.