OREANDA-NEWS The Ministry of Agriculture of Slovakia does not recommend the import of Ukrainian grain and products from it after the discovery in one of the batches of a pesticide that can negatively affect people's health, the agency reported on Thursday.

"The Ministry of Agriculture does not recommend the import of Ukrainian grain and products from it," the ministry's website says.

According to the ministry, in a control sample that was taken from a batch of Ukrainian grain, the presence of a pesticide that is banned in the EU and has a negative impact on human health was confirmed. We are talking about a batch of 1.5 thousand tons of wheat, the inspection of which was reported on Wednesday. A strict ban is being imposed on the processing and marketing of this grain and flour from it.

The Ministry of Agriculture plans to take samples from all batches of grain and flour that were imported to Slovakia from Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Slovak Minister of Agriculture Samuel Vlchan reported that an increased content of pesticides was detected during laboratory analysis of grain imported into the country from Ukraine. He informed that by the end of the week, the results of analyses will be received, which are designed to establish the degree of influence of the detected substances on human health. The minister reported that the processing of this batch of grain was stopped, according to his information, it was about 1.5 thousand tons of wheat.

Vlchan urged Slovak entrepreneurs who are engaged in grain processing to be careful when buying agricultural products in countries outside the European Union.

In early April, Slovakia strengthened control over the quality and transit of grain crops imported from Ukraine to protect the local market. The Ministry of Agriculture reported that representatives of the financial service at the border will now put seals on all shipments of grain crops that are in transit to other countries through the territory of Slovakia. Those shipments destined for Slovakia will be tested for the content of pesticides and other substances.
The issue of Ukrainian wheat exports was also raised by Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger during a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky. Heger noted that it is necessary to take measures to ensure that wheat from Ukraine does not remain on the European market and does not discriminate against local producers. According to the Slovak government, Zelensky promised to hold talks with exporters so that they would not abuse the situation.

At the end of March, the prime ministers of a number of EU countries appealed to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with a request to intervene in the crisis caused by the influx of grain from Ukraine. The letter of the Prime Ministers of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia noted that "the problems are associated with a significant increase in the supply of Ukrainian products to the markets of EU member states, especially those bordering Ukraine or located next to it," in particular, "there has been an unprecedented increase in imports of cereals, oilseeds, eggs, poultry, sugar, apple juice, berries, apples, flour, honey and pasta".