European Commission proposes to continue trade with Ukraine without duties and quotas, but will strengthen protection of its market

The European Commission is proposing to extend the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU for another year, until the summer of 2025. At the same time, it wants to strengthen the protection of agricultural products in the bloc, so it will change the rules.

Continued liberalization of Ukrainian products is part of the EU’s commitment to support Ukraine. This is stated on the European Commission’s website.

“These autonomous trade measures (ATMs) have been in place since June 2022 and are a key pillar of the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine and its economy. The measures contribute to alleviating the difficult situation faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters as a result of Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified aggressive war,” the statement said.

While the main goal of the measures is to support Ukraine, they also take into account the sensitivities of EU farmers and other stakeholders. To this end, and taking into account the significant increase in imports of certain agricultural products from Ukraine to the EU in 2022 and 2023, the updated rules contain an enhanced safeguard mechanism. This ensures that remedial measures can be taken quickly in the event of significant disruptions in the EU market or in the markets of one or more Member States.

For the most sensitive products – poultry, eggs, and sugar – an emergency brake is provided to stabilize imports at the level of average imports in 2022 and 2023. This means that if imports of these products exceed these volumes, duties will be re-imposed so that the volumes do not significantly exceed those of previous years.

At the same time, the Commission proposes to extend the suspension of all duties on Moldovan imports, which have been in effect since July 2022, for another year.

These proposals will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The aim is to ensure a smooth transition from the current regime to the new rules before the current regimes expire on June 5, 2024 for Ukraine and July 24, 2024 for Moldova.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal commented on the European Commission’s proposal. He expects that the measures developed will allow removing the harmful unilateral bans on imports of agricultural products from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

“The European Commission proposes to extend Ukraine’s ‘economic visa-free regime’ with the EU until June 2025. This means that our entrepreneurs will be able to continue exporting their products to European markets without quotas, duties and tariffs,” he said.

According to Shmyhal, the new instruments will help to avoid any potential conflicts in agricultural markets. This will allow for a more harmonious integration of Ukrainian agriculture into the EU.

Tags: Ukraine, export, EU, sugar, Meat, restrictions, eggs