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.
Gas supplies throughout the EU must be at least 80 percent full by November and 90 percent of capacity next year. Starting next year, targets will be set 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 hampers the country’s trade capacity. Import duties on industrial products, fruits and vegetables, as well as anti-dumping duties on steel imports will be fully abolished for a period of one year.
An automated system for all customs formalities will be introduced for Ukrainian-European trade on both sides of the border. This means that manual handling of documents will no longer be necessary.
The new rules are expected to promote smooth cross-border trade flow. The provisional agreement now reached still has to be approved in June by the 27 EU ministers and the full European Parliament before the formal approval process is completed.
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 approximately 1.2% of total EU trade.