The EU ambassadors (Coreper) have endorsed the agreement reached between the EU Council presidency and the European Parliament on temporary autonomous trade measures in favor of Ukraine.

"These measures are a gesture on our part of tangible political and economic support to Ukraine. Given the difficult situation Ukraine is currently facing, we hope to proceed swiftly with the implementation of this regulation," Minister for Economy, Investment and Small Business of Malta Christian Cardona is quoted as saying in a report posted on the EU Council's website.

The proposal is aimed at improving access for Ukrainian exporters to the EU market, in view of the difficult economic situation and the economic reform efforts undertaken by Ukraine, the report says.

These measures will be added to trade provisions already introduced under an EU-Ukraine association agreement signed in 2014. Those provisions have been provisionally applied since January 1, 2016.

The proposed measures will be applied for a three-year period, and consist of additional annual import quotas at zero tariff for the following agricultural products: natural honey (2,500 tonnes), processed tomatoes (3,000 tonnes), grape juice (500 tonnes), oats (4,000 tonnes), wheat (65,000) tones, maize (625,000 tonnes), barley (325,000 tonnes), groats and pellets of certain cereals (7,800 tonnes).

The proposed measures will also include full removal of import duties on several industrial products, such as fertilizers, dyes, pigments and other coloring matters, footwear, copper, aluminium, as well as television and sound recording equipment.