Ukraine: Council adopts renewal of temporary trade liberalisation and other trade concessions

The Council adopted today a Regulation which renews the suspension of all customs duties, quotas and trade defence measures on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, until June 2024.

By renewing these measures the EU is continuing to demonstrate its unwavering political and economic support for Ukraine, which is still facing Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified military aggression.

The measures will help Ukraine to maintain the stability of its trade relations with the EU and to keep its economy going under very challenging circumstances.

Coupled with extensive military, financial and humanitarian support, this is crucial to help Ukraine in its long-term recovery.

"Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the country's economy. The renewed Autonomous Trade Measures will unequivocally support Ukraine and at the same time they provide the EU with a way of protecting if necessary the internal market from significant increase in imports of some agricultural products." - Johan Forssell, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade.

The regulation adopted today will apply for a period of one year and concerns the following:

• all outstanding customs duties under Title IV of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine establishing a deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA). This concerns two categories of products: fruits and vegetables subject to the entry-price system, and agricultural products and processed agricultural products subject to tariff-rate quotas
• the collection of anti-dumping duties on imports originating in Ukraine as of the date of entry into force of this Regulation
• the application of the common rules for imports (safeguards) with respect of imports originating in Ukraine

The trade-liberalising measures are taken in observance of the commitment in Article 2 of the Association Agreement (DCFTA), which enshrines as an essential element of the Agreement the promotion of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, inviolability of borders and independence.

Background and next steps

The Commission tabled its proposal on the renewal of temporary trade liberalisation supplementing trade concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their member states, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part, on 23 February 2023.

On 28 April, the Permanent Representatives Committee confirmed that should the European Parliament approve the Commission’s proposal without amendments, the Council would approve the European Parliament’s position. On 9 May, the European Parliament adopted its first-reading position by taking over the Commission’s proposal without any amendments.

Now that the Regulation has been adopted, it will be signed by the representatives of the Council and the European Parliament and published in the Official Journal, before entering into force on 6 June.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the Council of the EU for this decision.

IC UAC according to the Council of the EU