The European Commission on Tuesday re-introduced tariff quotas on Ukrainian honey due to the excess of quota-free volumes of its supplies to the European market, according to a press release from the EC.
“From August 21 to June 5, 2025, imports of Ukrainian honey to the EU will be carried out under the tariff quota of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), which has been in force since 2016 between the two parties. The automatic re-introduction of this tariff quota is the result of the revised Autonomous Trade Measures (ATM), which are effective from June 6, 2024,” the statement said.
The EC recalled that the revision of these ATMs includes an emergency brake for seven agricultural products, which will be automatically triggered if imports reach the average annual imports recorded between July 1, 2021 and December 31, 2023. For honey, this average is 44.418 thousand tons.
The European Commission pointed out that, according to Article 4 of Regulation 2024/1392, after reaching these volumes, the EC has 14 days to reintroduce the relevant tariff quota from the DCFTA between the EU and Ukraine. Since the imports of honey from Ukraine have already exceeded the volumes established by this quota since the beginning of 2024, additional imports will be subject to most-favored-nation (MFN) duties. In particular, a new tariff quota will be introduced from January 1, 2025, until June 5, 2025, which will correspond to 5/12 of the threshold set for the emergency braking. For honey, the new quota will amount to 18,507 tons.
At the same time, the European Commission notes that imports of Ukrainian honey to the EU have been fairly stable over the past five years, averaging about 49 thousand tons per year.
As reported, the European Commission introduced quotas for the supply of eggs and sugar to the European Union from June 2, 2024 to June 5, 2025. For eggs, the new quota is set at 9,662 thousand tons, and for sugar – at 109,44 thousand tons.
According to Article 4(7) of the Regulation on autonomous trade measures applicable to Ukrainian products, Ukraine will be able to supply to the EU from June 6, 2024 to June 5, 2025 without paying any duty 57,101 thousand tons of poultry meat, 9,662 thousand tons of eggs, 109,439 thousand tons of sugar, 18,507 thousand tons of honey, 4.648 million tons of corn, 1,017 thousand tons of oats, and 8,603 thousand tons of cereals.
