The European Commission has agreed to increase tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus. Now the proposal must be approved by the EU Council
Kyiv • UNN
The European Commission proposes to raise tariffs on imports of grains, oilseeds and processed products from Russia and Belarus to the EU to prevent market destabilization, combat exports of misappropriated Ukrainian grain and deprive Russia of revenues it uses to finance its war against Ukraine.
The European Commission has agreed to raise tariffs on imports of certain agricultural products from Russia and Belarus. These are cereals, oilseeds and processed products . The decision has been sent to the EU Council for approval. UNN reports this with reference to the press service of the European Commission.
Today, the European Commission is proposing to increase tariffs on imports into the EU of cereals, oilseeds and their derivatives ("grain products") from Russia and Belarus, including wheat, corn and sunflower meal. These tariffs, while high enough to suppress such imports into the EU in practice, will not affect exports to third countries
The tariff increases are aimed at achieving several goals:
- to prevent destabilization of the EU market as a result of any future significant redirection of Russian grain products to the EU market.
As noted, European farmers are concerned about this possibility. Russia's role as the world's leading grain exporter, combined with its willingness to use food exports as a geopolitical tool, indicates that the risk of market destabilization is high, the EC adds
- to fight Russian exports of misappropriated grain produced in Ukraine, some of which is illegally exported to the EU market, deliberately falsely labeled as "Russian".
It is noted that the tariffs proposed today will make this method of illegal export more unprofitable.
- to prevent Russia from using revenues from exports to the EU - both Russian and misappropriated Ukrainian grain products - to finance its aggressive war against Ukraine.
"Since Russia exported about 1.3 billion euros worth of similar products to the EU in 2023, these EU tariffs will deprive the Russian economy of another important source of income and, as a result, the Russian military machine," the statement reads.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "We propose to impose tariffs on these Russian imports to mitigate the growing risk to our markets and our farmers. They will reduce Russia's ability to exploit the EU for its military machine. And we remain committed to preserving global food security, especially for developing countries. We are finding the right balance between supporting our economies and farming communities. At the same time, we continue to provide unwavering support to Ukraine. "
The tariff increase will also apply to Belarus because of its close political and economic ties with Russia. In addition, the European Commission believes that by including Belarus in the new measures, the EU will prevent the Kremlin from using Minsk to circumvent the new tariffs and channel its goods to the EU market.
Today's proposal does not address the transit of grains, oilseeds and processed products from Russia and Belarus to third countries. This demonstrates that the European Union remains fully committed to ensuring food security around the world, especially when it comes to developing countries
The proposal will now be considered by the Council of the European Union. Once approved, the tariffs will be immediately enforced.
