Ukraine as of July 22 had fully used quotas for duty-free exports of agricultural products to the EU on nine groups of goods, including honey, sugar, cereals and flour, processed starch, processed tomatoes, grape and apple juice, wheat, corn, and butter. According to a press release from the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UAC), the pace of quota use and revival of trade with the EU is noticeably accelerating, as on the same date last year seven quotas for duty-free exports from Ukraine to the EU were used.
“Potentially, quotas for barley (79% are now used), poultry (75%), malt and wheat gluten (58%), and starch (53%) will be used by the end of the year,” the association noted.
The UAC said additional quotas for eight groups of goods come in force from October 2017 for a period of three years: for honey, flour and cereals, processed tomatoes, grape and apple juice, oats, corn, wheat, and barley. As of July 22, five of the additional quotas were used: for honey, cereals, juice, wheat, and corn.
AGRI PRODUCTS, APPLE JUICE, CEREALS, CORN, DUTY-FREE EXPORTS, EU, GRAPE, HONEY, SUGAR, WHEAT
Ukraine is ready for negotiations with the European Union to strengthen trade in 2020 and implement new opportunities, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman has reported.
“Today, we sell 43% of exports to the EU market. We have free trade area agreements. In 2018 we revised and increased the quotas (for export). There will be an opportunity to revise trade conditions in 2020 and we are working to expand the volume and “horizon” of trade. Every citizen will benefit from this. This is my priority,” Groysman said on the air of the Svoboda Slova program on ICTV.
Ukrainian agricultural exports to the European Union (EU) countries in January-May 2019 grew by 30.8% compared with the same period in 2018, to $2.97 billion, Acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Olha Trofimtseva has said. “Export of Ukrainian products to the EU during the reporting period increased 30.8%, to $2.967 billion. Import increased 12.1% and amounted to $1.227 billion,” she wrote on her Facebook page on Friday.
The share of the Netherlands of goods turnover between Ukraine and the EU countries was 17.6%, Spain’s – 13.7%, Poland – 13.1%, Germany – 10.8%, Italy – 10.8%, France – 5.7%, the U.K. – 4.1%, Belgium – 3.2%, Portugal – 2.9%, Hungary – 2.9% and Ireland – 2.7%.
The main products in the structure of exports to the EU are cereal grains – $1.4 billion, vegetable oils – $610.5 million, leftovers and waste from the food industry – $272.8 million, oilseeds – $177.4 million, meat and edible offal of poultry – nearly $86 million, fruits, nuts and zest – $53 million, grain products and cereals – $36.4 million, honey – $34.6 million.
The State Fiscal Service (SFS) has announced that authorized exporter status has been granted to 239 enterprises that supply goods to the European Union. “In Ukraine, 239 enterprises that export goods to the EU countries received authorized exporter status as of July 2, 2019,” the agency said on Facebook.
As explained by the SFS, these companies can process goods at customs, using a simplified procedure, that is, without issuing a EUR.1 certificate, they can independently declare the preferential origin of goods in commercial documents.
In addition, the SFS noted that a Finance Ministry order amending the procedure for granting and cancelling such status by the customs came into force on June 21 this year.
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini has assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the EU will continue to support Ukraine.
“The High Representative congratulated President Zelensky on his election victory and underlined that the European Union continues to stand by Ukraine, supporting the country on its reform agenda and with respect to its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” an EU spokesperson said in a statement.
During their meeting in Brussels, Mogherini and Zelensky discussed possible ways to make progress in implementing the Minsk Agreements for Donbas.
“Federica Mogherini stressed that the European Union is ready to support the Minsk implementation with all available means. This can include the EU’s help in support of President Zelensky’s stated objective for an inclusive approach towards the Ukrainian citizens living in the non-government controlled areas in eastern Ukraine,” according to the statement.
“High Representative Mogherini also confirmed the EU’s socio-economic support to the Azov Sea region,” the EU spokesperson said.
“The European Union continues to expect that Russia will immediately release the 24 detained Ukrainian servicemen and return to Ukraine’s custody the three vessels,” the spokesperson said.
The sides also discussed the need to continue reforms in Ukraine.
“They look forward to continue the discussions and common work at the next EU-Ukraine Summit which will take place on 8 July in Kyiv,” the spokesperson said.
Ukraine in 2018 used 11 out of the 40 quotas for duty-free exports under the free trade area (FTA) agreement with the European Union, while export quotas for processed products from oil, sugar syrups, and an additional quota for exports of mushrooms were not used at all, according to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
Ukraine has not yet received permission to export red meat, therefore its companies also did not use the quota for pork, lamb, and beef. The remaining quotas were used partially, the ministry said.
In 2018, the country fully used quotas for exports of corn, honey, corn flour and granules, grape and apple juice, processed tomatoes, processed malt and starch, soft wheat, wheat flour and granules, barley grits and starch flour, and the major quota for exports of poultry and semi-finished products from it.
In 2018, the main quota for exports of mushrooms was used by 0.03%, the quota for exports of cigarettes by 0.01%, food products by 0.9%, processed products from dairy cream by 4.2%, ethanol by 10.4%, processed products from sugar by 13.9%, milk, yoghurt and cream by 15%, barley by 16.6%, dairy products by 22.1%, milk powder by 24.1%, and oats by 36.5%.
In addition, Ukraine has used the basic quota for exports of eggs by 74.6%, and an additional one by 48.3%.
