The Council of the European Union adopted a resolution on the extension of the duty-free regime for Ukrainian exports to the countries of the bloc for another year — until June 2024.
The press service of the Council of the EU writes about this.
In this way, the European Union demonstrates its support for Ukraine, helps maintain the stability of its trade and economy.
Customs tariffs will not apply to fruits and vegetables covered by the input price system, agricultural products and products of their processing subject to tariff quotas.
At the same time, the resolution does not refer to industrial goods from Ukraine, because they are not subject to customs duties from the beginning of 2023 according to the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU.
According to data from the European Commission, the European Union is Ukraineʼs largest trading partner. It accounts for 39.5% of its trade in 2021.
The EU introduced zero tariffs for Ukrainian goods for a year in June 2022.
- At the beginning of May, the European Parliament supported the proposal to cancel customs duties and other taxes for the import of goods and services from Ukraine for another year.
- The influx of cheap products from Ukraine hit the agrarian business of Poland and other neighbors of Ukraine. Farmers had to reduce the prices of their products, due to which they suffer losses. Polish farmers have been protesting since last May. Against this background, the EU will provide assistance to European farmers and begin an investigation into the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.
- On April 15, Poland banned the import of grain and dozens of types of agricultural products from Ukraine ( railway transit was resumed on April 24). On April 16, Hungary also announced a ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine until June. Slovakia adopted a similar decision on April 17, and Bulgaria on April 19. True, the Bulgarians allowed transit.
- On May 2, the European Commission officially temporarily banned the import of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine. The ban will last until June 5, 2023. During this period, the mentioned goods can be imported to all EU countries, except Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. At the same time, Ukrainian products can be transited through their territory.