The European Union promised to increase quotas for imports of certain types of agricultural products from Ukraine
Kyiv and Brussels have agreed to revise the free trade agreement, which is part of the broader association agreement with Ukraine, European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič said.
Some goods will be exempt from duty, while others will be divided into categories - for "less sensitive" products, quotas will be increased more, and for "more sensitive" ones (such as sugar, poultry, eggs, wheat, corn, honey, skimmed milk powder, malt, gluten, oatmeal, and barley bulgur) - more moderately.
For the latter category of products, safeguard mechanisms will be applied to protect the EU internal market if imports from Ukraine threaten to destabilize the economy of the entire Union or individual member states.
For dairy products, including powdered milk and yogurts, as well as for mushrooms and grape juice, restrictions will be completely lifted.
In turn, Ukraine pledged to significantly increase quotas for imports of pork, chicken, and sugar from the EU, as well as reduce or abolish additional duties for individual countries.
In addition, by 2028, Ukraine must bring agricultural production standards into line with European standards, particularly in the areas of animal husbandry and pesticide use.
The final version of the agreement must be approved by the EU Council, three members of which (Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) have imposed and have not yet lifted a unilateral embargo on Ukrainian agricultural products.
In general, Ukrainian agribusiness is satisfied with the new agreement, although there are some issues, in particular regarding the application of the "precautionary measures" mechanism, which could become "political arbitrariness," says Svitlana Taran, an analyst at the European Policy Center in Brussels.
The Ukrainian farming lobby is also surprised by the European Commission's demand to change production standards, since it should lead to free access to the EU internal market, and this is not yet being discussed.
