BRUSSELS, March 28. /TASS./ Ukraine may lose approximately 331 mln euros in export revenues under one of the trade terms of a new tariff agreement with the European Union, Politico said, citing European Commission (EC) data.
According to the news outlet, this will happen if the export volume of certain agricultural products to the EU surpasses the average for the second half of 2021 and Brussels introduces emergency tariffs on trade in these goods with Ukraine. This restriction is part of the new compromise offer for extending the waiver of customs tariffs in trade with Ukraine for another year that EU member states’ envoys agreed on earlier. The list of products potentially affected by such tariffs and quotas includes chickens, eggs, sugar, oats, corn and all types of grain and honey.
In order to extend the customs duties waiver, the agreement must be officially approved by a session of the European Parliament (EP) and the Council of the European Union at the ministerial level. However, according to Politico, there is a risk that this may not happen before June 5, 2024, when the current agreement expires.
The news outlet pointed out that the difficulties that EU countries had encountered while coordinating the measures on agricultural trade are infinitely minor compared to the problems that may emerge if Ukraine joins the union. What is happening now, "is more than foretaste. It’s the reality of how difficult it will be for Ukraine to be a member of the single market," said one European diplomat in a commentary to Politico, which the source gave on condition of anonymity.
The current compromise offer is Brussels' second attempt to extend the waiver of customs tariffs charged on Ukrainian goods. The first one, coordinated on March 20, was rejected by the EP, where members demanded that a clause be included requiring the reintroduction of customs duties if the flow of agricultural products from Ukraine to the EU became excessive and threatened the EU’s stability.