We announced on June 27 that the European Commission had adopted a protective mechanism for the EU market as part of the trade liberalization agreement. This information was also published by the Ministry of Agriculture on its social media account:
The end of the free inflow of eggs and sugar from Ukraine – the quota has been exhausted. Now these products will be subject to customs duties. Poland, we strived for this and we achieved it thanks to good cooperation with other countries and the ability to compromise – Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Czesław Siekierski"
According to media announcements, the customs duties were to be in force from Friday, June 28. However, no documents had been published by then and the Ukrainian side denied them.
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What about the introduction of tariffs on sugar and eggs? Ukraine denies
On July 1, the Euraciv portal reported that the above-mentioned tariffs would apply from tomorrow, i.e. from July 2.
Let us recall what trade liberalization and security mechanisms are all about. This year, the EU approved the extension of the liberalization of EU trade with Ukraine, suspending import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products until June 5, 2025. However, the provisions provide for the so-called "emergency brake" in the case of particularly sensitive agricultural products: poultry, eggs, sugar, oats, groats, corn and honey. These security mechanisms were to be introduced if the import of the mentioned products exceeded the established limits. And that's exactly what happened. First, on June 18, a duty on oats was introduced. Now it's time for more products.
From January 1, 2025 to June 5, 2025, Ukraine will be able to export five twelfths of the threshold set for triggering the emergency brake, which corresponds to 109,438 tons of sugar, we read on the Euractiv website.
Import of sugar from Ukraine to the EU
Sugar imports from Ukraine have increased from about 20,000 tons before the war to almost 500,000 tons in 2022-2023.
The suspension of sugar imports to the EU from Ukraine does not take into account the interests of EU sugar buyers, consumers and economic growth and competitiveness. It is also inconsistent with the EU's promise to support Ukraine and pave its way to EU accession. The import protection mechanism was introduced under excessive pre-election pressure and without assessing its effects – we read in the press release of the Committee of European Sugar Users CIUS .
EU sugar beet growers have a different opinion on this matter. They draw attention to a completely different scale of production in Ukraine and in the Community countries. They admit that the EU is becoming more and more dependent on imports due to the effects of pesticide restrictions. They have a simple solution to this: either the same rules of the game for everyone on the EU market, or customs duties and import restrictions.
