EU member states and the European Parliament begin negotiations on Tuesday evening to extend the customs exemption granted to Ukraine and may decide to limit grain imports, as in the case of eggs, poultry or sugar, reports AFP.

Ahead of those talks, ambassadors from the 27 EU member states agreed on Monday to consider limiting imports of Ukrainian grain when the war-torn country’s tariff exemption is extended, diplomatic sources said.

The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU “concluded that there is broad support for the initial position” of the member states, which does not involve restrictions on grains, but could be accompanied by “a statement to strengthen the restrictions if necessary.” ., said the diplomat.

“The negotiation mandate of the EU Council has not been changed. Another source agreed that some states have shown some flexibility on grain.

Ukrainian products become cheaper in the EU / Three sensitive products

For its part, Paris “supported some Polish proposals” to restrict grain flows, a French source said.

European farmers blame the influx of grain, eggs and chicken from Ukraine for lowering local prices, especially in neighboring countries, and creating “unfair” competition due to non-compliance with certain standards. This issue causes outrage in the EU sector, especially in Poland.

To eliminate these fears, the European Commission proposed to extend for another year, starting in June, from 2022, the exemption from customs duties on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, but with strengthened “guarantees”.

Brussels has proposed to cap imports of three “sensitive” products – poultry, eggs and sugar – at the level of average volumes imported in 2022 and 2023, above which customs duties will be reintroduced.

The EU executive’s proposal was initially approved by 27 member states on February 21, but last Thursday the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted to extend the ceiling to grains (wheat, barley, oats, corn) and honey.

The MEPs also want to calculate the base period in an average of three years (2021-2023). Farmers’ organizations criticize the fact that the limit proposed by Brussels is in line with the high volumes of the past two years, which caused the crisis.

These changes must now be negotiated between member states and parliament, which must find a compromise and ratify it before the current duty exemption expires in early June.

“At the same time, work is being done to ensure that Ukrainian agricultural products return to the original markets of Africa and the Middle East, access to which was somewhat limited due to the conflict, so that they do not get stuck in Europe,” the French source added.

In addition, Brussels will “soon” propose restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said.