EU extends duty-free regime for Ukraine until mid-2024
The Council of the European Union has decided to renew the suspension of all customs duties, quotas and trade defence measures on Ukrainian exports to the EU for another year, until June 2024.
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The regulation concerns the following:
- all outstanding customs duties under Title IV of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. 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
- the application of the common rules for imports with respect of imports originating in Ukraine
"Russia's unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the country's economy," Johan Forssell, Swedish foreign trade minister, was quoted as saying.
"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," he added, meaning the European commission's decision to partially ban Ukrainian agricultural products to five EU countries neighbouring Ukraine.
The EU’s exemption of Ukrainian imports from duties was one of the three most significant factors that had a positive impact on the Ukrainian investment climate last year, the European Business Association said in a statement.
Ukraine is the bloc's 15th largest trading partner, accounting for about 1.2 percent of the EU's total trade, and the EU is Ukraine's largest trading partner.