The Interdepartmental Commission on International Trade has extended for five months the antidumping investigation into Ukraine’s import of plywood originating from Belarus, initiated on June 22, 2020.
The decision of the commission of July 13, 2021 to initiate an investigation comes into force from the moment of its publication, it is indicated in the notification published in the Uriadovy Kurier newspaper dated July 23.
“The commission, in accordance with the adopted decision, decided to extend the antidumping investigation into the import of plywood originating from the Republic of Belarus to Ukraine by 18 months,” the notice says.
As reported, the said antidumping investigation, the decision on which entered into force on June 25, 2020, was initiated by Ukraine on the basis of complaints from Ukrainian companies, namely Kostopil Plywood Plant LLC, Ukrhosptovary Private Enterprise, Uniplit LLC, Standard 2002 LLC, Start production cooperative.
According to the applicants, during the observation period up to the third quarter of 2019, the share of plywood imports from Belarus increased in absolute terms by 691%, in terms of consumption – by 559%, and production – by 858%. At the same time, the price of imported plywood was higher than the price of the applicant (except for 2016-2017), which led to a negative trend in its performance in the domestic market.
The Verkhovna Rada has adopted at the final reading a bill allowing the import of samples of innovative crop protection agents (PPP) for scientific research and state testing into Ukraine by canceling the amendment introduced in December 2015 prohibiting the testing of imported pesticides without their preliminary registration in the country of origin.
Bill No. 2289 with amendments to Article 4 of the law on pesticides and agrochemicals regarding the import of pesticides into the customs territory of Ukraine at the final reading at a session on Wednesday were supported by 291 MPs with the required 226 votes.
The rule, according to which a prerequisite for the import and use in Ukraine of samples of unregistered pesticides used for state testing and scientific research is documentary confirmation of their state registration in the country of production, was removed from Article 4 of the law on pesticides and agrochemicals.
According to an explanatory note to the document, conflicts of legal norms on the regulation of the import and use of pesticides not registered in Ukraine are eliminated, and it is allowed to use, store, sell, advertise and transport the remnants of imported agents within two years after the expiration of their registration period.
MAIN TRADE PARTNERS OF UKRAINE IN % FROM TOTAL VOLUME (IMPORT FROM OTHER COUNTRIES TO UKRAINE) JAN-MARCH 2021
FOREIGN TRADE TURNOVER BY THE MOST IMPORTANT POSITIONS JAN-MARCH 2021 (IMPORT)
The European Union has officially published its list of sectoral sanctions against Belarus.
In line with the decision of the EU Council, which was published in the EU’s official journal, the ban on import or transit from Belarus of highly significant export goods for the country, petroleum products and potash fertilizers, applies to contracts signed after June 25, 2021. The EU sanctions thus do not apply to current contracts for supplies of petroleum products and potash fertilizers.
“It shall be prohibited […] to transport petroleum products if they originate in Belarus, or are being exported from Belarus to any other country; to provide, directly or indirectly, technical assistance, brokering services, financing or financial assistance, including financial derivatives, as well as insurance and re-insurance […]. The prohibitions […] shall be without prejudice to the execution of contracts concluded before June 25, 2021, or ancillary contracts necessary for the execution of such contracts,” the document said.
Similar sanctions are envisaged for potash fertilizers from Belarus. “It shall be prohibited to import, purchase or transfer, directly or indirectly, potassium chloride (‘potash’) products […] from Belarus, whether or not originating in Belarus. The prohibitions […] shall be without prejudice to the execution of contracts concluded before June 25, 2021, or ancillary contracts necessary for the execution of such contracts,” it said.
BANS, BELARUS, EUROPEAN UNION, IMPORT, OIL PRODUCTS, TRANSIT
Ukraine in January-May of this year increased imports of aluminum ores and concentrate (bauxite) in kind by 12.3% compared to the same period last year, to 2.185 million tonnes.
According to statistics released by the State Customs Service on Tuesday, during this period, imports of bauxite in monetary terms increased 16.8%, to $99.393 million.
At the same time, aluminum ores were mainly imported from Guinea (60.15% of supplies in monetary terms), as well as from Brazil (22.26%) and Ghana (16.31%).
Ukraine in January-May 2021 re-exported bauxite in the amount of 94 tonnes for the tune of $19,000 to Poland (84.21%) and Germany (15.79%).
