Ukraine may soon use up quotas for duty-free trade with EU in honey, corn, chicken - European Commission

Ukraine, against whose exports of sugar, eggs and oats to the EU, protective measures have already been introduced, in accordance with the updated Autonomous Trade Measures (ATM), is about to use up the limits of duty-free trade with the EU and other types of agricultural products, which means that soon Ukraine will reach the limit in duty-free trade with the EU in honey, corn, and chicken.

European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski said this today in Brussels during a press conference following the EU Council of Ministers on Agriculture and Fisheries, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

The Agriculture Commissioner said he is satisfied that during today’s discussion on Ukraine, the member states, in general, expressed positive opinions about the new AMT and preventive protective safeguards that were introduced. It was the initiative of the European Commissioner for Agriculture to present these import limits, and they are working, he believes. They were activated for three products – sugar, eggs and oats. The EC is monitoring the situation for other sensitive products, he added. The closest to the cap is honey, the export of which has already reached 89 percent of the limit, corn reached 67 percent, and chicken reached 59 percent.

At the same time, he noted that criticism coming from some European politicians and the European community against the EU Common Agricultural Policy, claiming it is aimed at reducing domestic production and further increasing dependence on imported products, are groundless. According to the European Commissioner, the EU was and will remain the world’s largest exporter of agricultural products.

Last year, Wojciechovski noted, the positive balance of the EU in trade in agricultural products reached a record EUR 70 billion. This year, the record can be beat because in the first quarter alone, such a positive balance of the EU in trade with third countries already amounted to EUR 18 billion.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, since June 6, "Autonomous Trade Measures" have entered into force in the EU, under which all import duties and quotas for Ukrainian exports to the European market have been suspended for another 12 months. At the same time, the updated ATMs contain preventive restrictive measures to protect the European market. These additional safeguards can be applied to products such as chicken eggs, chicken, sugar, oats, corn, cereals, and honey. Safeguards shall be automatically applied if the volume of imports of these goods reaches the average annual volume of imports from Ukraine to the EU in the period from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023.

In June, the EU reinstated "most favorable" tariffs on oats and some other agricultural products.

Autonomous Trade Measures for Ukraine were put into effect on June 4, 2022 to support the Ukrainian economy. According to the European Commission, over the 12 months until October 2023, the total volume of Ukrainian imports to the EU amounted to EUR 24.3 billion, which is EUR 0.3 billion more than in 2021.