The Council of the EU renewed duty-free exports and quotas of agricultural goods from Ukraine to the EU until June 2024.

2023-05-25 17:13:14

Restrictions on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, sunflower and canola will be added to the regulation, sources said

The EU Council adopted today regulationwhich renews the suspension of all tariffs, quotas and trade protection measures on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, until June 2024, reported ag-press.eu.

The measures will help the Ukraine to maintain the stability of its trade relations with the EU and to preserve its economy in very difficult circumstances.

Combined with extensive military, financial and humanitarian support, this is critical to helping Ukraine in its long-term recovery, the statement said.

The regulation adopted today will apply for a period of one year and concerns the following:

• all unpaid duties under Title IV of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine to establish a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). This applies to two categories of products: fruit and vegetables subject to the entry price system and agricultural products and processed agricultural products subject to tariff quotas
• the collection of anti-dumping duties on imports originating in Ukraine as of the date of entry into force of this Regulation
• the application of general import rules (safeguard measures) in respect of imports originating in Ukraine

The measures to liberalize trade are undertaken in compliance with the commitment in Article 2 of the Association Agreement (AAFTA), which sets as the main element of the Agreement the promotion of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the inviolability of borders and independence.

Background and next steps

The Commission submitted its proposal to renew the temporary trade liberalization supplementing the trade concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part. on February 23, 2023

On 28 April, the Permanent Representatives Committee confirmed that if the European Parliament approves the Commission’s proposal without amendment, the Council will approve the European Parliament’s position. On 9 May, the European Parliament adopted its position at first reading, adopting the Commission’s proposal without any amendments.

Now that the regulation has been adopted, it will be signed by representatives of the Council and the European Parliament and published in the Official Journal before entered into force on June 6.

Echo from Bulgaria

Those familiar with the case explained to Agro Plovdiv that the Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, categorically stated that the restrictions on the import of Ukrainian goods, introduced by Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia, will continue to apply after June 5. These restrictions will be entered as additional text to the regulation.