EU strikes new trade deal with Ukraine covering farm imports

The European Union on Monday agreed to a new long-term trade deal with Ukraine, covering imports of food products from the war-torn country that have angered EU farmers.

"With this modernized agreement, we are securing trade flows from Ukraine to Europe and global markets," says the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

"At the same time, we continue to safeguard the interests of our farmers."

Brussels and Kyiv have been wrangling over the deal after protests from farmers saw the EU slap quotas on tariff-free Ukrainian agricultural imports into the bloc.

In the wake of Russia's February 2022 invasion, the EU gave tariff-free access to most Ukrainian agricultural imports to help the country's economy.

But irate EU farmers said the Ukrainian produce unfairly undercuts their own.

In response, Brussels added certain restrictions in 2024, when it extended the agreement for one additional year by introducing a maximum ceiling on certain tariff-free products such as cereals, poultry, eggs, sugar, and corn.

The European Commission said that under the new deal -- which still needs to be finalized -- quotas would remain for those sensitive agricultural areas.

The new terms "improve access compared to the previous 2016 agreement, but moderate imports compared to their peak," EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen said.

In return, Kyiv will cut its quotas for pork, poultry, and sugar imported from the EU and push to align its food production standards with those of the 27-nation bloc by 2028, Brussels said.

Agricultural powerhouse Ukraine has been desperate to maintain preferential access for its products to the EU as it seeks to keep income flowing after three-and-a-half grueling years of war.

AFP