Ukraine as of November 26, 2018 fully used 10 quotas for duty free exports of food under a Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement with the European Union (EU), particular, quotas for honey, cereals, malt and wheat gluten, preserved tomatoes, grape and apple juices, wheat and corn, butter and poultry.
According to a posting on the website of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), Ukraine also almost fully used quotas for starch (95%) and garlic (96%).
The UCAB reminded that from October 1, 2018 the second year of additional quotas for five groups of goods began, and two groups have been already closed (honey and preserved tomatoes).
“Before the end of the year, additional quotas for grain will be in effect, of which the volume for wheat and corn has already been used, and only 23% is used for barley,” the UCAB said.
As reported, in January-October 2018, exports of agricultural products from Ukraine amounted to $14.8 billion, which is $165 million more than a year earlier.
In addition to quotas for Ukraine, quotas on duty free import of goods from EU countries to Ukraine are still in effect. These include quotas for the following groups of goods – sugar, poultry meat (primary and secondary quotas) and pork (primary and secondary quotas).
Ukraine as of April 17, 2018 fully used six quotas for duty free exports of goods under the agreement on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU (DCFTA), in particular for honey, malt and wheat gluten, preserved tomatoes, grape and apple juices, as well as wheat and corn. According to a report on the website of the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), Ukraine also used the second quarterly quota for export of poultry and the six month quota for butter. The quotas for cereals and flour have been used by 95%.
“This year there was a revival in the pace of using the quotas: as of the same date in 2017, the volume of wheat had not yet been used, and the quota for malt and wheat gluten had not been used in the past year. The fact that along with six key quotas four more are closed indicates the intensification of trade relations with the EU,” an analyst of the foreign trade in agricultural products of the UCAB, Daria Hrytsenko, said.
According to the results in January-February of this year, agri-food exports from Ukraine to the EU increased 28.1%, or $224.7 million compared to the same period last year, and reached $1.025 billion, according to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.
