EU suspends all duties on imports from Ukraine for one year

“Thanks to these measures the EU will be able to significantly support Ukraine’s economy. Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the country’s production capacity, transport infrastructure and access to the Black Sea, as well as its wider ability to trade with the rest of the world. The consequences cannot be underestimated both internally, and internationally, in terms of impact on food security,” reads the press release of the Council of the EU.

As noted, today’s decision will apply for a period of one year, and will suspend in particular:

• all those tariffs under Title IV of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine establishing a deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA) that had not yet been liberalised. The suspension covers notably: industrial products subject to duty phase out by the end of 2022, 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, and
• the application of the common rules for imports with respect of imports originating in Ukraine.

The Council underscores that the decision is conditional upon respect for the principles set out in Article 2 of the DCFTA.

As reported, on April 26, the European Commission proposed to suspend import duties on all Ukrainian goods for a period of one year. Last week, the European Parliament backed the EC’s decision.

The EU is Ukraine’s largest trading partner, with a trade turnover of more than 40% of the country’s foreign trade in 2021. In turn, Ukraine is the EU’s 15th largest trading partner.