The European Commission announced on Tuesday (20 August) that the import volume of Ukrainian honey had exceeded the limit set in the regulation on trade benefits for Kyiv. This resulted in the reintroduction of tariff quotas.
To support Kyiv’s agri-food sector in the face of the Russian invasion, the EU introduced autonomous trade measures (ATMs) in 2022 to eliminate tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural exports.
The trade benefits, which were extended for another year in June, set maximum import volumes for seven “sensitive” products: eggs, poultry, sugar, oats, corn, groats and honey.
The EU executive announced on Tuesday that honey was the latest product to reach the set limit, which led to the emergency brake.
The maximum import volume for the product was 44,417.56 tons in the period from January 1 to December 31, 2024, which corresponds to the average volume of the second half of 2021 to 2023.
From tomorrow, Ukrainian honey imported into the bloc will fall under the tariff quotas of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) concluded between the EU and Ukraine in 2016.
But according to the European Commission, honey imports from Ukraine already exceed the amount specified in the DCFTA.
“Most-favored-nation tariffs will be levied on additional imports,” said the press release published on Tuesday.
The EU executive announced that a new tariff quota for honey of 18,507.32 tonnes will apply from 1 January 2025 to June 2025.
So far, poultry and maize are the only sensitive products that have not exceeded their respective limits under the ATM programme, but they are not far off.
According to the EU Customs Union website, both countries have reached almost 70 percent of the maximum quantities set out in the regulation.
A sensitive topic
The extension of trade benefits for Kyiv’s agricultural and food industry, which came into force on June 6, was not without controversy; negotiations lasted months.
European farmers, especially from the countries bordering Ukraine – Romania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria – had protested against the “flooding” of the EU market by Ukrainian agricultural products and demanded stronger protective measures than under the previous framework.
A coalition of EU countries led by France and Poland also pushed for increased protective measures.
In June, the European Commission described the agreement reached by EU lawmakers in the spring as “the right balance” to take into account the “legitimate concerns” of farmers and member states.
(Edited by Angelo Di Mambro and Rajnish Singh)
