The European Commission has proposed to extend the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while strengthening the protection of sensitive EU agricultural products. This was reported by the European Commission’s press service on 31st January.
“This proposal is made in line with the EU’s commitments to support Ukraine to the extent necessary,” the press service said.
These autonomous trade measures (ATMs) have been in place since June 2022, and “are an important pillar of the EU’s unwavering support for Ukraine and its economy”.
“While the main objective of the ATMs is to support Ukraine, the measures also take into account the sensitivities of EU farmers and other stakeholders. To this end, and in view of a significant increase in imports of some agricultural products from Ukraine into the EU in 2022 and 2023, the renewed ATMs include a reinforced safeguard mechanism. This will ensure that in the event of significant disturbances on the EU market or on the markets of one or more Member States, rapid remedial action can be taken,” the European Commission said.
In particular, the ATMs provide for the possibility to introduce an “emergency brake” on the supply of the most sensitive products from Ukraine – poultry meat, eggs and sugar – with the aim of stabilising imports at the level of average import volumes in 2022 and 2023.
“This means that if imports of these products exceed these volumes, tariffs would be reapplied to ensure that import volumes do not significantly exceed those of previous years,” the EU Commission explained.
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