EU and Ukraine agree on new poultry import quotas

Under a new review of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, Ukraine will see its quota for poultry exports to the EU raised by a third from 90,000 tonnes to 120,000 tonnes per year, while the egg export quota will jump threefold from 6,000 tonnes to 18,000 tonnes.

Ukraine, in turn, will allow duty-free imports of 120,000 tonnes of poultry meat per year, up from 20,000 tonnes currently.

In a statement on its website on 13 October, the European Council emphasised that the “market access for the most sensitive products, such as sugar, poultry, eggs, wheat, maize and honey, remains more limited and gradual”.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Denmark’s foreign affairs minister, noted: “Both the EU and Ukraine will benefit from the elimination of customs duties, leading to sustained economic stability, enduring trade relations, and further Ukrainian integration with the Union.”

However, not everyone is happy with the new terms of the deal. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania spoke against the proposed liberalisation, warning it can destabilise the European agricultural markets, the Ukrainian business publication European Pravda reported, citing several anonymous sources.

“We are convinced that the proposal does not provide any guarantees that could protect the interests of Hungarian farmers from the influx of Ukrainian imports,” commented József Viszki, state secretary of the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture.

Ukrainian exports of poultry and eggs to the EU remain a big concern for European farmers. During the first 8 months of 2025, Ukraine exported poultry worth US$716 million, which is 13% higher compared with the previous year, the Ukrainian Union of Poultry Farmers recently unveiled.

The Netherlands, which accounted for 15.9% of deliveries, was ranked first in the list of the largest importers of Ukrainian poultry. It was followed by Saudi Arabia (14.8% share), the UK (10.6%) and Slovakia (6.8%).

During this period, the EU remained the leading market for Ukrainian poultry, purchasing 83,100 tonnes, or 28.2% of the total figure.

In the meantime, a European financial institution has provided a new incentive to poultry production in Ukraine, supporting a practice that some European farmers have long protested.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has guaranteed US$5 million of risk for a new US$12.256 million loan by its partner bank, Credit Agricole Ukraine (CAU), to Dniprovska Group, Ukraine’s second-largest poultry producer.

This new financing aims to help Dniprovska Group stabilise and recover from the impact of the war, which resulted in the loss of production facilities and land.

Tags: exports, markets, EU, eggs, sugar, Dniprovska Group, Poultry, Production, wheat, quota, imports, maize, duties, Ukraine, honey