Council of the EU approved “prohibitive” tariffs on agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia and Belarus

The Council of the European Union has adopted new tariffs on agricultural products and fertilizers from Russia and Belarus, which have not yet been subject to additional duties. This was announced by the press service of the Council of the EU.

The relevant measures should reduce the dependence of European countries on Russian and Belarusian imports and reduce the revenues of the Russian budget and its ability to finance the war against Ukraine. In addition, this may stimulate production within the EU.

“Compliance with these tariffs will be carefully monitored to ensure the protection of the European fertilizer industry and agricultural producers. The increase in fertilizer tariffs will be gradual, with a three-year transition period,” the message says.

With the entry into force of these changes on July 1, 2025, EU tariffs will apply to all agricultural products from Russia.

The categories subject to the new tariffs cover around 15% of all agricultural imports from Russia to the EU as of 2023.

As for fertilizers from Russia, in 2023 the categories to which duties were applied accounted for 25% of imports in this sector – around 3.6 million tonnes worth €1.28 billion.

Tags: Russia, EU, Belarus, fertilisers, restrictions, agricultural