The Ministry of Agriculture says it will not agree to provisions that threaten Polish farmers in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) being negotiated between the European Union and the US.

According to documents recently leaked by Greenpeace, the US is pressuring Europe to change its stringent food safety rules, and open up the market for US food and considerably strengthen the role of foreign investors.

Opponents of the agreement say that after signing the deal, Poland would be inundated with cheap, unhealthy food, and the market would exclude Polish farmers.

Jacek Bogucki Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development says that negotiations on food trade have been suspended.

All food delivered to Europe and Poland would have to comply with European standards.

“Another issue is that there is a [significant] price difference, which is generally at a disadvantage for Europe. The high quality standards which were imposed, but also the environmental protection regulations, mean that we produce more expensive food,” Bogucki said.

Environment Minister Jan Szyszko believes that the fears for Polish agriculture are reasonable, and emphasised that each country should take care of its own interests, adding that “there is no doubt that the US cares about its own interests and for it, the opening of the European market in such areas as food exports produced mainly from GMO is a great opportunity, and that is a huge threat to Poland." (rg)