The League of Agricultural Producers' Associations of Romania (LAPAR) is calling on the authorities to ensure strict controls and full traceability of Ukrainian grain in transit, following reports in the public domain about the reactivation of solidarity corridors for agricultural products originating in Ukraine, LAPAR President Matei Titianu, a member of IMM Romania, told a press conference on Tuesday.

'Agriculture needs a miracle or, at the very least, a series of common-sense measures to cope with the problems associated with the transit of Ukrainian grain through Romania. Taking into account what happened in 2022-2023 and the reports in the public domain about the possibility of reopening the solidarity corridors for the transit of Ukrainian grain, LAPAR is sounding the alarm because this could create major market distortions, with negative effects on the agricultural sector and, of course, implications for logistics,' Matei Titianu said.

On behalf of LAPAR, he proposed a set of concrete, operational measures through which transit can be managed without imposing disproportionate costs on Romania's agricultural and logistics sectors. He also called for a genuine consultation mechanism to be established before any new regulations are adopted.

Among the measures proposed by LAPAR is prior authorisation of transit flows, with reporting every three days. Each shipment entering from Ukraine, either directly or via Moldova, should be authorised before entry, with the authorisation covering the goods, the mode of transport and the border crossing point. A three-day reporting mechanism would allow the Romanian state to have real-time knowledge of the volumes and categories of goods in transit, Titianu said.

It is also calling for entry documents to be mandatorily matched with documents confirming the goods' exit from the country, so that it can be demonstrated that the entire quantity declared as being in transit has actually left Romanian territory.

At the same time, Romanian goods must be given priority through a transparent mechanism protected from commercial interests.

In addition, LAPAR is calling for the effective use of warehouses, an instrument also recommended by the European Commission, as implementing rules already exist but have not been put into practice. This would help ease logistical distortions and bottlenecks caused by peaks in traffic flows.

LAPAR is also proposing predefined routes monitored by the National Road Infrastructure Management Company (CNAIR) and the Romanian Police, as well as mobile CNAIR weighing stations at all borders, including the border with Moldova. The same should apply to trains, with checks to ensure that loading and unloading hatches are properly sealed.

The League of Agricultural Producers' Associations has already asked the relevant authorities for clarification regarding the procedures applicable to Ukrainian grain entering Romania, including grain arriving via Moldova, how transport is monitored from entry to exit, measures to ensure that Romanian goods are not disadvantaged in accessing transport, storage and port operations, and information on the quantities of Ukrainian grain entering and transiting Romania, including through border crossing points with Moldova.

'Romania's infrastructure must be viewed, first and foremost, as critical infrastructure for the functioning of the national economy, for Romanian products' access to transport, storage and port operations, and for maintaining domestic economic balance. This need is all the more important at a time when river traffic is affected by low water levels on the Danube, the road network is under strain and energy, road transport and rail transport costs have risen significantly. Under these circumstances, the transit of goods originating in Ukraine must be organised through clear rules, effective controls and verifiable traceability mechanisms, so that it does not affect Romanian products' actual access to the market and national logistics infrastructure,' LAPAR said.

Consequently, LAPAR is calling for a genuine consultation framework to be established with representative organisations of farmers, cooperatives, carriers and port operators before new measures are adopted concerning solidarity corridors and the management of flows of agricultural products originating in Ukraine, either directly or indirectly via the Republic of Moldova.

LAPAR is a member of the Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation and COPA-COGECA, the European Union's largest organisation representing farmers and agricultural cooperatives. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)