Important changes in the legislation related to the transport of certain agricultural products from Ukraine

As of 16 September 2023, the Government Decree 430/2023 (IX.15.) entered into force and amended the Government Decree on measures related to the transport of certain agricultural products from Ukraine. Please find below the most important information in this regard.

The range of sensitive products has been extended!

The previous rules have been included only four products in the category of sensitive products (i.e. common wheat, corn, oilseed rape or colza seeds, sunflower seeds - excluding their seeds). Under the current legislation, additional agricultural and animal products are included in the category. For example:

• Common wheat
• Common rye
• Barley
• Corn
• Wheat flour or double flour 
• Cereal flour (excl. wheat or meslin flour)
• Oil seeds of rape or colza, whether or not broken (excl. seeds)

Seeds will continue to be exempt from the import ban and the EKAER notification obligation.

Due to the armed conflict in Ukraine, during the period of the emergency regime, products belonging to the sensitive products category (by the application of the exception rules) cannot be imported into Hungary if they originate from Ukraine.

Sensitive products - which are originate from Ukraine and be in temporary storage in Hungary - cannot be placed under the release for free circulation, customs warehousing, free zone or inward processing procedure. The sensitive products may only be imported for transit. The time limit of the transit is 15 days, starting from the day on which the operator initiates the permitted customs procedure.

In general, the transporter of the sensitive products is required to certify that the product does not originate from Ukraine. However, the customer's declaration in itself cannot be taken into account to prove the origin of the sensitive products.

For the six product groups defined in the Government Decree (e.g. wheat, rye, barley, maize etc.) the eKÁER notification obligation applies to intra-Community purchases of the referred products. Import declarations for transactions should be made by the consignee. It is also important to highlight that the obligation of guarantee provision - under the eKÁER Decree – should be also applicable in the case of the determined products even if the debtor is a reliable taxable person. However, it should be noted that in the case of fulfilment of certain conditions the exemption rules can be applicable for the guarantee provision.

We also note that, the transport of sensitive goods from Ukraine through Hungary is continuously monitored by the Tax Authority.

In our previous newsletter, we have also informed you about the ban on Ukrainian grain imports under the respective EU regulation, which can be read by clicking on the below link:

The EU regulation on the Ukrainian grain import ban has been announced!

Should you have any questions about the legislative changes, our experts are at your disposal.

26th of September 2023