On Tuesday, the European Parliament voted to extend duty-free trade in Ukrainian agricultural products for a year and introduced new restrictions on imports to calm down protesting EU farmers. This is stated in the report of the press service of the European Parliament, UNN reports .
Details
MEPs supported the extension of the suspension of import duties and quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products for another year, until June 5, 2025, with restrictions to protect the interests of European farmers.
428 deputies voted in favor, 131 voted against, and 44 abstained.
The new rules stipulate that the European Commission can react quickly and take measures it deems necessary in case of serious problems on the EU market or one or more member states due to Ukrainian agricultural imports. In particular, a safeguard is provided for a number of products - poultry, eggs, oats, cereals, corn, and honey - if imports exceed average import volumes in the second half of 2021 and in 2022-2023, in which case tariffs may be reintroduced.
As part of the agreement on these new rules, the Commission promised to start negotiations with Ukraine on permanent trade liberalization in the near future.
Recall
As UNN previously reported , the European Commission is preparing a draft decision to extend duty-free trade with Ukraine until June 2025, despite calls from some member states to reintroduce duties.