Tariff rate quotas for imports of eggs and sugar from Ukraine into the EU have been reintroduced as high import levels trigged an “emergency brake” set by the European Commission.
Last month, an emergency brake for seven agricultural products, to be automatically triggered if import volumes reach the average yearly imports recorded between July 2021 and December 2023, was introduced.
This mechanism is part of the revised Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs), which have been in place since June 6, 2024. This includes an emergency brake for eggs, poultry, sugar, oats, maize, groats and honey.
The revised ATMs have been extended for another year until June 5, 2025. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU first put in place ATMs in June 2022 to allow duty-free access for all Ukrainian products to the EU.
Eggs and sugar imports
For eggs and sugar, the average required to trigger the emergency brake is 23,188.96t and 262,652.68t respectively. As of January 2025 and until June 2025, new tariff rate quotas will be set at 9,662.07t for eggs and 109,438.62t for sugar.
As EU imports of eggs and sugar from Ukraine so far in 2024 already exceed the volumes set in the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) tariff rate quota, additional imports will continue with “most-favoured nations” (MFN) duties.
The commission defines MFN duties as the principle of not discriminating between one’s trading partners, i.e. all are granted “most favoured nation treatment” as required by all members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Ukraine exported to all third countries a total 32,000t of egg products in 2022 and 57,000t in 2023. In addition to the EU, the country also exports to several countries in the Middle East, the Arab Peninsula and Western Africa.
Regarding sugar, Ukraine exported a total of about 181,000t in 2022 and 508,000t in 2023. Since November 2023, Ukraine started exporting to non-EU destinations in Europe, as well as to countries in Africa and the Middle East.
Ukraine
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC) has said that Ukrainian farmers are concerned about the planned increase in the excise tax on fuel and its impact on the cost of agricultural production.
An increase in taxation by 2028 will lead to additional costs for producers and mean that Ukrainian agri-business will pay five times more than European companies, according to UAC chair Denys Marchuk.
He said that if the excise tax is increased from €139.5 to €330 per a thousand liters by 2028, as set out in a draft law adopted by the Ukrainian parliament, farmers in Ukraine will become “uncompetitive” on the European market.
He added that farmers operating in the third year of the war and “suffering significant losses”, especially grain growers, will not be able to withstand such an increase in costs.
“It is imperative to take into account that businesses that do not use national roads, mainly agricultural machinery, should not pay more than 50% of the excise tax on fuel,” the UAC chair said.