Baltic States Join Ukraine in Grain Origin Controls

Ukraine and several Baltic states are taking steps to strengthen controls on grain origin entering international markets. The initiative aims to prevent products from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories from being sold under a different declared origin.

Lithuania is already piloting a Grain Verification Scheme through the Port of Klaipeda, while Latvia has started practical checks, collecting four grain samples since September 16 and sending them to a laboratory in France for testing. Two more samples are planned.

The goal is to create a systematic mechanism for verifying the origin of grain cargoes. Ukraine wants to expand this verification practice and improve coordination with the Baltic states. The sides also discussed using Baltic ports as alternative routes for Ukrainian agricultural exports, potentially handling up to 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain.