Skip to main content

The European Parliament votes to extend tariff-free trade with Ukraine

09/05/2023

The European Parliament has now voted in favour of prolonging tariff free trade with Ukraine by another year, informed Rikard Jozwiak, a journalist of Radio Free Europe, on his Twitter.

Key facts

  • The European Parliament has voted to prolong tariff-free trade with Ukraine by another year by 537 votes, with 42 against and 38 abstentions, wrote Jozwiak.
  • Updated. The decision applies to unilateral suspension of import duties, anti-dumping duties, and safeguards on Ukrainian exports to the European Union, according to the press release published on the website of the European Parliament.
  • Tariffs will not be applied to fruits and vegetables subject to the entry price system, as well as agricultural products and processed agricultural products subject to tariff-rate quotas.
  • “Industrial products are subject to zero duties since 1 January 2023 under the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, so they are not included in the new proposal,” the press release reads.

Context

In May 2022, the EU Council voted to cancel tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian goods for a term of one year. The decision suspends all tariffs as per Chapter IV of the Association Agreement between EU and Ukraine, which have not yet been liberalized. This applied, in particular, to industrial products, taxation of which was subject to gradual cancellation until the end of 2022, fruits and vegetables subject to the entry price system as well as agricultural products and processed agricultural products subject to tariff-rate quotas.

Also, anti-dumping duties and application of general rules on Ukraine’s imports are suspended.

The UK also announced suspension of duties on all goods from Ukraine.

At the end of February, the European Commission proposed to extend tariff-free trade with Ukraine with Ukraine.

On April 29, the European Parliament’s Committee on International trade approved prolonging tariff free trade with Ukraine by another year to support the economy of Ukraine. On April 28, the proposal was approved by the members of the European Parliament.

Forbes

,

to top