Ukraine. Bill to Cancel Export Duties Further Complicates the Soy and Rapeseed Market

UkrAgroConsult

On 19 September, a bill to cancel the “soy–rapeseed amendments” was registered in the Verkhovna Rada. The draft was submitted by MP Yaroslav Zheleznyak, who stressed that the current export duty regime has effectively frozen the market and should be abolished.

After the law was adopted, the government did not define a procedure to confirm that exported oilseed was grown by the seller. As a result, customs has refused to clear shipments without the 10% duty, leading to a temporary halt in rapeseed and soybean exports. Farmers also delay the oilseed sales: some agree to pay the duty, continue exporting, and prepare claims to refund paid amounts; others have suspended exports entirely.

UkrAgroConsult cautions that the draft bill consideration may deepen market uncertainty event more at a time when activity is constrained by the lack of clear rules. Exporters are holding off on new deals because they do not know whether to pay the duty now or wait for a possible duty cancelling in the coming months.

At the same time, the export duties are already achieving their main objective—stimulating domestic processing. Where annual rapeseed crush was previously estimated at about 500 K mt, each month under the current regime adds roughly 200 K mt of rapeseed processed domestically instead of exported, generating additional export revenue from value-added products.

Farmers and business associations urge the government and law makers to act quickly, warning that delays risk contract failures and loss of markets. UkrAgroConsult emphasizes that prolonged uncertainty creates losses across the entire logistics chain. New decisions are needed as soon as possible to balance the interests of exporters and domestic processors.

Tags: export, soybean, rapeseed, duties, restrictions, Ukraine