EU eases customs process to accelerate Ukrainian exports

The European Parliament has approved the temporary suspension of EU import duties on Ukrainian products to support the country's exports. An agreement has also been reached with the ministers of the 27 EU countries to simplify and speed up customs procedures at the border with Ukraine.

The gas reserves in the entire EU must be at least 80 percent full by November, and at 90 percent of capacity next year. From next year there will be targets per country. Member States without underground storage capacity will have to ensure that at least 15% of their average consumption is stored in another EU country.

The temporary trade liberalization is a response to Russia's war against Ukraine, which is hampering the country's trading ability. Import duties on industrial products, fruit and vegetables, as well as anti-dumping duties on steel imports will be completely abolished for a period of one year.

For Ukrainian-European trade, there will be an automated system for all customs operations, on both sides of the border. This means that manual handling of documents is no longer necessary.

The new rules are expected to promote a smooth flow of cross-border trade. The provisional agreement that has now been reached still has to be approved by the 27 EU ministers and the full European Parliament in June before the formal approval procedure goes through.

The EU is Ukraine's main trading partner, accounting for more than 40% of total trade. In return, Ukraine was the EU's 15th largest trading partner, accounting for about 1.2% of the total EU trade.