The Council of the European Union and the European Parliament have extended the tariff-free trade with Ukraine for another year until June 5, 2025. However, they have introduced restrictions on a range of “sensitive products” in the agreement.
Liberalizing trade involves temporarily suspending import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural product exports to the European Union. These measures were first introduced in 2022 to help the Ukrainian economy amidst the full-scale war.
The EU has agreed to extend these measures today, but they have included “safeguard measures” to protect EU farmers in case of market disruptions. The agreement already provides for emergency brakes on “particularly sensitive” agricultural products, like poultry meat, eggs, and sugar. Members of the European Parliament have added oats, maize, cereals, and honey to the list.
The EU Council explained that they wanted to take into account any negative impact on the market of one or more EU member states, not just on the EU market as a whole, as it is now.
The new instrument will require the European Commission to reintroduce tariff quotas if the import of the listed products from Ukraine to the EU exceeds the average volume imported in 2022 and 2023.
The European Parliament and the EU Council must give final approval to the interim agreement. The current agreements are set to expire on June 5, 2024. The new rules are expected to come into effect on June 6.