Starting today, October 29, an updated trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU comes into force, which provides for the abolition of tariffs and an increase in quotas for the export of certain agricultural products, the State Customs Service reports, writes UNN.
Details
As reported, it is about the entry into force on October 29 of changes to the tariff schedules in mutual trade between Ukraine and the EU.
The decision provides for the abolition or significant reduction of import duty rates and an increase in the volume of tariff quotas for Ukrainian goods when they are exported to the EU
As noted, this creates new opportunities for Ukrainian exporters. "Lower import duty rates and increased quota volumes will stimulate exports and help Ukrainian products enter new markets," the customs service explained.
Information on updated tariff quota volumes for 2025 is available on the Unified State Information Web Portal "Single Window for International Trade".
Addition
On October 14, 2025, Decision No. 3/2025 of the Association Committee in Trade Configuration (ACTC) was adopted on the reduction and abolition of import duties in accordance with Article 29(4) of the Association Agreement between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the EU, the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, on the other hand.
This decision actually opens a new stage in the functioning of the free trade area with the EU. This is the first joint step after several years of unilateral EU preferences (2022-2025), which translates trade interaction into a sustainable contractual format, the representation of Ukraine to the EU noted.
What the document changes
The document provides for the following:
- abolishes or reduces import duties and increases quotas for Ukrainian goods. Now they will be defined and set out in a new Annex I-E, which will be included in the Agreement and will form an integral part thereof;
- establishes the volume of tariff quotas until the end of 2025 – seven-twelfths of the updated annual quotas, excluding the volume exported from June 6, 2025, until the updated trade regime enters into force;
- provides for a re-evaluation in 2028 to analyze how the level of liberalization corresponds to the development of trade relations, the progress of implementation of EU agricultural standards into Ukrainian legislation. That is, the decision may pave the way for even greater abolition of trade barriers in the future;
- the decision is bilateral and is valid indefinitely.
Back in July, Taras Kachka reported that Ukraine and the EU had agreed to update the free trade agreement, which allows to maintain the trade volumes achieved during the period of autonomous trade preferences: out of 40 quotas - 5 were liberalized in general, in 4 quotas individual goods were liberalized, 4 quotas were reconfigured.
According to him, by agreement, the size of the quotas was agreed to be increased: honey - by 583.3% from 2021; sugar, processed starch - 500%; barley groats and grits; cereals, otherwise processed - 435.8%; bran, husks and residues - 386%; dry milk - 308%; eggs - 300%; malt, processed tomatoes, processed sugar products - 250%; starches - 244%; butter - 233.3%; oats - 192.5%; corn - 153%; milk, cream, condensed milk, other sugars, mannitol-sorbitol, apple juice, products from processed butter, processed grain products, sweet corn, garlic - 150%; sugar syrups - 135%; poultry meat - 133.3%; wheat - 130%; ethanol - 125%; barley - 122.2%.
According to information from the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, the figures are somewhat different, and the largest increase in the volume of duty-free supplies, compared to 2021, was received by:
- honey: quota increased by 483% – from 6,000 to 35,000 tons;
- sugar: white sugar quota increased by 400% – from 20,000 to 100,000 tons;
- skimmed milk powder: volume increased by 208% – from 5,000 to 15,400 tons;
- eggs: quota volume increased by 200% – from 6,000 to 18,000 tons;
- poultry meat: quota increased by 33% – from 90,000 to 120,000 tons.
In addition, as reported by UKAB, quotas for processed products showed significant growth. For example, the quota for bran and its residues increased by 405% (from 21,000 to 85,000 tons), and for barley groats and meal — by 423% (from 7,800 to 33,200 tons).
The agreement, according to the report, also provides for full trade liberalization for less sensitive products. This means that tariff quotas are abolished for goods such as: mushrooms, fermented milk, processed milk and cream, food preparations.
At the same time, new categories of quotas appear for separated products – these are goods for which a separate duty-free quota is allocated, separating them from a larger, general quota. Previously, the export volumes of such goods were counted within the quota for the raw material from which they were made.
In particular, flour from wheat, barley and corn has been separated from existing quotas, the export of which was previously taken into account in the general quotas for wheat, corn and barley.
This innovation is expected to stimulate the export of products with higher added value. Now exporters can supply not only 1.3 million tons of wheat to the EU duty-free, but also an additional 30,000 tons of flour from it.
Since the updated agreement takes into account the interests of both parties, Ukraine, according to UKAB, will also increase the volume of quotas for European goods, in particular for pork (from 20,000 to 45,000 tons), poultry meat (from 20,000 to 120,000 tons) and sugar (from 40,000 to 100,000 tons). This will contribute to deepening mutual trade relations.