1.9 million tons of cereals from Polish farmers and only 83 thousand tons from Ukraine were purchased in 2021-2023 by Wipasz, a leading producer of feed, concentrates and mineral additives for poultry, cattle and pigs. – We transparently and clearly show how much grain we imported and why. But I can only be responsible for our company – says Józef Wiśniewski, president of Wipasz SA
As Józef Wiśniewski emphasizes, the numbers given above show that over the last 3 years as much as 96 percent grain purchased by Wipasz came from Poland, and only 4 percent from Ukraine.
On December 20, 2023, during the deliberations of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, the report of the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) was presented, regarding the results of the inspection of the activities of state authorities in the field of import and trade of grain and rapeseed from Ukraine. The report shows that in the period from January 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023, 541 business entities imported 4.3 million tons of cereals and oil plants from Ukrainian crops to Poland, worth PLN 6.2 billion.
The statistical data cited by NIK show that in 2022 there was a sharp increase in grain imports from Ukraine compared to 2021. In the case of wheat, imports increased from 3 tons to approx. 523 thousand. tons (by 16,700%), corn from 6 thousand to almost 2 million tons (an increase of 29,800%), and rapeseed from 86 thousand. up to 662 thousand tons (by 670%).
– It turned out that the imported grain and rapeseed, instead of passing through Poland in transit, mostly remained in our country, causing disruption of purchase prices on the domestic agricultural market. While as of June 30, 2021, grain stocks in Poland were estimated at 3.8 million tons, as of June 30, 2022, it was already about 7 million tons, and as of June 30, 2023 – about 9, 7 million tons – said Marek Adamiak, acting director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Supreme Audit Office, during the session of the parliamentary committee.
He added that this increase in imports – in particular wheat, corn and rapeseed – was caused by the European Union lifting all restrictions on trade with war-torn Ukraine.
Wipasz explains himself
The list of 541 entities in the top twenty included Wipasz SA, a company with exclusively Polish capital, a leading producer of feed, concentrates and mineral additives for poultry, cattle and pigs. Over the past three years, the company has imported 83,000 from Ukraine. tons of cereals, mainly wheat and corn, worth approximately PLN 86 million, which constitutes 1.93%. total import of grain from Ukraine to Poland.
– Transparency of operations is our calling card. Our basic and most important grain supplier are Polish farmers, for whom we are a stable and reliable partner. We ourselves encourage them to invest and conduct modern agriculture – emphasized Józef Wiśniewski, founder and president of Wipasz SA
He also referred to the issue of the company’s import of agricultural produce from Ukraine.
– When questions began about the inflow of grain from Ukraine to Poland, we admitted that we had been buying raw material for our feed there for years. However, this is a very small percentage of our purchases, and we buy raw materials abroad that are missing on our domestic market – said Józef Wiśniewski.
In the opinion of the president of Wipasz SA, the sharp increase in imports in 2022 was due to the lack of raw materials on the Polish market. This was largely due to the statement of the then head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, who advised farmers to refrain from selling grain because their prices will increase in the second half of 2022.
NIK indicated that the assessment of the situation on the national agricultural market by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, expressed in the media in June 2022, was not based on any analyses.
Data cited by the Supreme Audit Office show, using the example of rapeseed, to what extent the increase in grain imports resulted in a decline in prices on the domestic market: in the second quarter of 2022, the average price of rapeseed was approx. PLN 4.3 thousand. PLN per tonne, in the second half of 2022 it dropped to 3.1 thousand. PLN, and at the end of the second quarter of 2023 it was only PLN 1.66 thousand. PLN per tonne.
Quality under control
The NIK report shows that imported grain and rapeseed from Ukraine, intended for food, feed and sowing purposes, were controlled by inspections subordinated to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development: the State Plant Health and Seed Inspection, the Veterinary Inspection, the Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection and State Sanitary Inspectorate subordinated to the Minister of Health.
As a result, 11.6 thousand inspections of the State Sanitary Inspectorate carried out in 2022-2023 revealed the presence of pests in 210 samples, and in 7 the levels of pesticides were overestimated. However, tests conducted by the Veterinary Inspection found isolated cases of contamination with salmonella, pesticides and GMOs.
– The highest quality of finished products requires high-quality raw materials. Our company has implemented a number of procedures detailing the process of accepting and assessing the quality of incoming feed material in relation to currently applicable regulations, EU regulations and the requirements of the quality management systems implemented by the company – noted President Wiśniewski.
To ensure the high quality of manufactured products, the company has implemented quality certificates such as GMP+, Vlog, PIM Bez GMO, KZR INiG, which additionally tighten the control of the raw materials received.
The Dutch GMP+ system, which precisely defines quality criteria at every stage of feed production, from raw material receipt to label content, is most common in European feed factories and warehouses. The most important thing in the GMP+ system is the ability to purchase components for feed production only from an entity with an implemented and approved GMP+ system.
– In addition to internal monitoring, we are subject to periodic inspections by the Veterinary Inspection. Inspectors take samples of raw materials and finished products in accordance with the monitoring plan specified by the chief veterinarian – added the president of Wipasz SA
Information source: PAP MediaRoom
