Ukraine and the EU will update the Association Agreement to establish predictable terms of trade – Svyrydenko

The EU Council has finally approved the extension of the duty-free trade regime for Ukraine for another 12 months. By the summer of next year, the parties will update the Association Agreement to establish predictable terms of trade for the period before Ukraine joins the EU, said Yulia Svyrydenko, First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

“For a long time we have been working with the governments of neighboring countries and the EU institutions to eliminate these phenomena. As a response, the EU Regulation on the extension of autonomous trade preferences contains provisions on special safeguard measures, including automatic measures for corn, poultry, sugar, oats and cereals. The most important thing is that both Ukraine and the EU agreed that this extension of autonomous trade preferences will be the last one, and by next summer the parties will update the Association Agreement to establish the expected terms of trade for the period before joining the EU,” Svyrydenko said.

According to her, such negotiations will concern not only duties on agricultural products that have not yet been liberalized, but also production standards, so as to remove prejudice against Ukrainian products. The Government will also try to achieve the lifting of all temporary measures taken by neighboring EU member states and Ukraine that contradict the logic of open trade between us.

The Ministry of Economy added that the EU currently accounts for 65% of exports and 51% of imports to Ukraine and is an anchor trading partner for Ukraine.

On May 14, the European Union finally approved the extension of the duty-free trade agreement with Ukraine for another year. According to the new rules, the European Commission can react quickly and take measures it deems necessary in case of serious problems on the EU market or one or more member states due to Ukrainian agricultural imports.

Safeguards are provided for poultry, eggs, oats, cereals, corn, and honey. If imports exceed average import volumes in the second half of 2021 and in 2022-2023, the tariffs may be reinstated.

Tags: Ukraine, EU