The European Commission announced on Wednesday it was proposing to renew the suspension of import duties and quotas on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, while reinforcing protection for sensitive EU agricultural products.
"This is done in line with EU commitments to support Ukraine for as long as it takes," it said.
'Reinforced safeguard mechanism'
These measures are intended to "help alleviate the difficult situation faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters as a consequence of Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression," according to the European Commission.
The measures "are also mindful of EU farmers' and other stakeholders' sensitivities" and contain "a reinforced safeguard mechanism" to ensure that "quick remedial action can be taken in case of significant disruptions to the EU market, or to the markets of one or more member states," according to a statement.
'Emergency brake'
For the most sensitive products – poultry, eggs and sugar – "an emergency brake is foreseen" to "stabilise imports at the average import volumes in 2022 and 2023," the EU executive also said.
This means that if imports of these products increase above the levels seen in 2022 and 2023, an emergency brake will automatically kick in and prewar tariffs will be reintroduced, the euronews.com website reported.
The proposals will now be considered by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, which represents the bloc's member states.
In June 2022, Brussels lifted all tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian imports, but the free-trade regime led to a surge in Ukrainian cereals across neighbouring countries, triggering protests from local farmers, euronews.com noted.
In April last year, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia slapped national bans on a range of agricultural products from Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Wednesday is day 707 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
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Source: IAR, PAP, ec.europa.eu, euronews.com
Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Marcin Matuszewski.