The European Commission proposed to renew the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while reinforcing protection for sensitive EU agricultural products.
Continued liberalisation 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 help alleviate the difficult situation faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters as a consequence of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression," the statement said.
While the main objective of the ATMs is to support Ukraine, the measures are also mindful of EU farmers' and other stakeholders' sensitivities. To this end, and considering a significant increase in imports of some agricultural products from Ukraine to the EU in 2022 and 2023, the renewed ATMs contain a reinforced safeguard mechanism. This makes sure that quick remedial action can be taken in case of significant disruptions to the EU market, or to the markets of one or more Member States.
For the most sensitive products – poultry, eggs and sugar – an emergency brake is foreseen which would stabilise imports at the average import volumes in 2022 and 2023. This means that if imports of these products were exceeding those volumes, tariffs would be reimposed to ensure that import volumes do not significantly exceed those of previous years.
In parallel, the Commission proposes to renew by another year the suspension of all remaining duties on Moldovan imports in force since July 2022.
The proposals will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The goal is to ensure a seamless transition from the current regime of ATMs to the new one, by the time the current regimes expires on 5 June 2024 for Ukraine and 24 July 2024 for Moldova.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal commented on the European Commission's proposal. He expects that the measures will help to remove the harmful unilateral bans on agricultural imports by 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 the agricultural markets. This will allow for a more harmonious integration of Ukrainian agriculture into the EU.