EU introduces stricter limits on agricultural product imports from Ukraine

(Patria) - EU states and the European Parliament agreed on Monday on stricter limits on the import of some agricultural products from Ukraine, said Belgium, which holds the EU presidency, AFP reported.

The agreement extends the duty-free access that the bloc has granted to Ukrainian agricultural goods since the Russian invasion in 2022, but sets limits for poultry, eggs, sugar, corn, groats, and honey to average quantities recorded between mid-2021 and the end of 2023.

A limit on wheat, which countries like France and Poland initially advocated for, was not applied.

Lawmakers are anticipating the June elections that will lead to the formation of a new parliament. Many, especially conservatives and the far-right, want to show European farmers that they are on their side. The preliminary agreement still needs to be formalized. Approval on behalf of the member states was given at the EU ambassadors' meeting held late on Monday.
The European Parliament committee will consider it today before giving its consent. Diplomats had previously said that the limits would reduce the amount earned by Ukrainian farmers in the EU by about 240 million euros compared to 2023. Kyiv says it supplies only about one percent of eggs to the EU and two percent of poultry, and compensates for sugar shortages in the EU market.

The EU has sought to maintain solidarity with Ukraine while listening to its farmers who are protesting low incomes, partly blamed on Ukrainian goods which they say undermine their markets. The extension of duty-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural products is expected to begin before the current exemption period expires on June 5.

The European Parliament issued a statement stating that if there is a "significant disturbance to the EU market or the market of one or more EU countries due to imports from Ukraine, for example wheat, the regulation ensures that the (European) Commission can take swift action and impose any measures it deems necessary".

The rapporteur for the agreement, Sandra Kalniete from the center-right PPE group, said it has "strengthened safeguards to protect EU farmers in case of market turbulence caused by Ukrainian imports".

The farmers' union group COPA-COGECA and five agricultural federations stated in a statement that the agreement did not go far enough.