Black Sea Grain Agreement
The recent “Black Sea Grain Agreement” is set to expire in July 2023.
The “Black Sea Grain Agreement” provides for a secure maritime humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian exports from Ukraine’s three major ports on the Black Sea.
Exports from Ukraine mainly consist of food grains and fertilizers (including ammonia). These ports are: Chornomork, Odessa and Yuzhny/Pivdeni.
This agreement was reached in July 2022 between Russia and Ukraine under the mediation of the United Nations (UN) and Turkey. An option has also been kept to extend the deadline of this agreement. This agreement has been extended thrice. It was last extended till July 2023.
Significance of the Black Sea Grain Agreement –
- Reducing global food insecurity: Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and sunflower oil globally.
- Food inflation: This facilitates Russia’s export of fertilizers, which is necessary to ensure higher crop yields in the future and lower food prices.
- It also helps to deal with rising food prices due to disruptions in the supply chain.
Issues related to the agreement –
- According to UN data, only 3% of exports under the Black Sea Agreement went to low-income countries, while high-income countries received about 44% of exports.
- Russia has complaints with Western countries because of the challenges faced by its own exports.
Source – The Hindu
