Ministry of Economy on EU quotas: trade remains free, except for 40 categories of agricultural products
Kyiv • UNN
The free trade regime between Ukraine and the EU remains in place, but additional benefits have been abolished. Tariff quotas will apply to 40 categories of agricultural products, which may reduce revenue by $800 million.
The free trade regime between Ukraine and the EU is maintained. Only the additional liberalization by the EU in the form of autonomous trade measures ceases to be in effect. This means that all trade remains free, with the exception of 40 categories of agricultural products that are subject to tariff quotas. This was stated by First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko, reports UNN.
Details
The free trade regime between the EU and Ukraine is maintained. Only the additional liberalization by the EU in the form of autonomous trade measures ceases to be in effect. Unfortunately, as of today, the scenario that the European Commission set out a year ago – the transition from autonomous trade measures to an updated and more liberalized free trade agreement – has not yet been implemented. Active negotiations are ongoing right now and there is a desire to complete this work in the coming days
According to her, the lack of concessions from the EU regarding the revision of quotas affects trade worth USD 3.5 billion and may reduce revenue by USD 800 million.
But this is the worst and blackest scenario. In the world of trade, the final effect is always different
Difficult negotiations on trade quotas with the EU are ongoing - Shmyhal06.06.25, 12:25 • 2290 views
So what will the transition to the 2021 trade regime mean?
That all trade remains free, with the exception of 40 categories of agricultural products that are subject to tariff quotas. The experience of trade without restrictions has shown that in 17 of the 40 tariff quotas, trade volumes are higher than the tariff quota level of 2021. Therefore, for 23 goods, the restoration of quotas will not become a restriction - for example, garlic, of which we exported 235 tons last year under a quota of 500 tons - explained Svyrydenko.
She noted that even in these goods, the restoration of quotas will only partially affect trade volumes.
In particular, exports of corn to the EU even before 2022 reached a record 14 million tons with a formal quota of 650 thousand tons. This is due to the fact that the EU does not apply import duties on corn at all (except for Russian corn). A product such as honey is also exported with the payment of duties - this phenomenon has been known since the very first year of application of the free trade agreement. Wheat is in global demand - said Svyrydenko.
Also, according to her, there are goods for which the restoration of tariff quotas will be a decrease in exports, and the most indicative is the export of sugar, the quota for which is 20 thousand tons with exports last year of 311 thousand tons.
What is happening in trade today
Even exporters of sensitive products will not notice any actual changes, because the EU has "zeroed out" the calculation of volumes for quotaed goods and started counting again. Of course, in 2 months, such goods as milk powder or tomato paste may have problems with access to the market. That is why it is so important to complete negotiations on increasing and removing quotas in the coming days
Addendum
The European Commission approved the volume of quotas for Ukrainian agricultural products, which will be valid from June 6 until the end of 2025 under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement.
Ukraine will be able to supply wheat, flour - 583.33 thousand tons, corn - 379.167 thousand tons, barley - 204.167 thousand tons to the EU market under the deep and comprehensive free trade zone in the 7 out of 12 (7/12) months of the year.
The restriction will apply to poultry meat, of which 52.511 thousand tons are allowed to be supplied, which in turn are divided as follows: 4/7 of the quantity for the period from June 6 to September 30 and 3/7 of the quantity for the period from October 1 to December 31. A similar scenario for the supply of products is provided for beef, exports of which are limited to 7 thousand tons, and eggs, the supply of which should be 3500 tons.