EU agrees tougher restrictions on Ukraine farm imports
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Wheat was not subjected to a price ceiling, as France and Poland had contended.
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Two farmers remove mud from a tractor as they try to harvest a field in Potomkyne, Kherson, in Ukraine on April 25, 2023. (AP)
EU member states and the European Parliament agreed on Monday to further limits on some Ukrainian farm imports, according to Belgium, which now holds the European Union presidency.
The pact extends the bloc's duty-free access to Ukrainian agricultural commodities since the war began but limits poultry, eggs, sugar, maize, goats, and honey to average amounts seen between mid-2021 and the end of 2023.
Wheat was not subjected to a price ceiling, as France and Poland had contended.
The tentative agreement must yet be confirmed in an EU ambassadors' conference late Monday and by a European Parliament committee on Tuesday.
Diplomats have previously stated that the limitations will reduce Ukrainian farm goods' earnings in the EU by roughly 240 million euros ($260 million) compared to 2023.
The European Union has expressed support with Ukraine while listening to farmers who are lamenting poor wages due to Ukrainian goods undercutting their markets.
The prolongation of duty-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural goods will take effect before the current exemption period expires on June 5.
The European Parliament stated that if there is "significant disruption to the EU market or the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports, for instance wheat, the regulation ensures that the (European) Commission can take swift action and impose any measures it deems necessary."
Farmers have been protesting across the EU for several compelling reasons, including an agricultural policy perceived as highly restrictive and threatening to normal farming practices. They are calling for several restrictions to be lifted, as well as a halt to the unrestricted entry of competitive foreign goods.
Last month saw particularly violent protests as farmers gathered near the European Quarter in Brussels, in an attempt to disrupt a ministerial meeting of the EU countries to discuss agricultural matters, Belgian news sources reported.
