On October 13, the Council of the European Union adopted a decision to reduce or completely abolish customs duties on a number of Ukrainian agricultural products. The list includes dairy products, fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as meat and meat products. This decision is part of the process of updating the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU (DCFTA).

As noted on the EU Council website, access for Ukrainian producers to the European market will now depend on the gradual harmonization of Ukrainian standards with EU norms in the areas of animal husbandry, the use of agrochemicals and veterinary drugs. Thus, the gradual harmonization of standards will become a key condition for Ukrainian farmers to fully enter the common market.

At the same time, quotas will be maintained for the so-called “sensitive goods” – in particular, sugar, poultry meat, eggs, wheat, corn and honey. This means that the export of such products to the EU will remain limited. This approach, Brussels explains, allows protecting European farmers for whom Ukrainian products are a serious competitor.

According to Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Taras Kachka, the renewal of the agreement will help maintain the current volumes of Ukrainian exports to the EU, achieved thanks to temporary autonomous trade preferences. Without this revision, according to government estimates, Ukraine's potential losses could exceed $800 million.

The official also provided details on the new quotas. In particular, five quotas will be fully liberalized (mushrooms, fermented dairy products, food additives), and four more will be partially liberalized (in particular, for grape juice, fructose, high-fat milk powder). The other four quotas have been rearranged to better reflect current market needs.

The volume of export quotas for honey increased by 483% to 35 thousand tons, for sugar and starch - four times (up to 100 thousand and 8 thousand tons, respectively), and for grain products and processing waste - by an average of 280-330%. Also increased were the limits for the export of milk powder (up to 15.4 thousand tons, +208%), eggs (up to 18 thousand tons, +200%), malt (up to 17.5 thousand tons, +150%) and corn (up to 1 million tons, +53%).

In addition, the export quotas for milk, garlic, apple juice and butter products were expanded by 50%, while the quotas for sugar syrups, poultry meat, wheat, ethanol and barley will increase by 25-35%. Kachka emphasized that even in sectors where volumes are slightly lower than the 2024 level (in particular, powdered milk, eggs, honey, wheat, barley and corn), trade conditions remain favorable for Ukrainian exporters.

“Only for three goods — poultry meat, sugar and apple juice — volumes have decreased somewhat, but we have minimized potential losses for Ukrainian producers,” the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized. Last year, Ukraine exported 136.6 thousand tons of poultry meat, 331.8 thousand tons of sugar and 78.2 thousand tons of apple juice to the EU.

The new trade conditions must be finally approved by the Association Committee between Ukraine and the EU, after which the decision will enter into force. It is expected that trade liberalization will not only maintain current export volumes, but also become an incentive for the modernization of the Ukrainian agricultural sector in accordance with European standards.