EU Council decides to suspend import duties and tariffs on Ukrainian and Moldovan exports for another year

RIGA - The Council of the European Union (EU) has approved a decision to suspend import duties and tariffs on Ukrainian and Moldovan exports to the EU for another year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) informed LETA.

The MFA said that the decision was a sign of the EU's unwavering political and economic support for Ukraine. At the same time, the approved decision provides for the protection of EU farmers with regard to imports of certain agricultural products.

The MFA notes that the EU continues to provide comprehensive support to Ukraine, including through trade instruments, in the context of the ongoing Russian war of aggression and the economic challenges it poses. The support provided strengthens Ukraine's ability to export its production, thus ensuring the maintenance of economic activity and supporting the national budget.

Given the loss of important markets in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and the dependence of exports on transit through Ukraine, Moldova's economy has also been facing significant challenges since the outbreak of the Russian war, with particular losses in agricultural exports, the MFA explains.

The EU's autonomous trade measures for Ukraine will be extended from June 6 to June 5, 2025 and for Moldova from July 25 to July 24, 2025.

At the same time, two additional mechanisms to protect the EU market will be in place for imports from Ukraine during this period: a safeguard mechanism covering all goods and providing for swift corrective action in cases where the market of one or some EU Member States is negatively affected, and an automatic safeguard mechanism obliging the European Commission to reinstate tariff quotas if imports of poultry meat, eggs, sugar, oats, maize, groats and honey exceed the arithmetic average of the quantities imported in the second half of 2021, 2022 and 2023.