The European Commission adopted a proposal for temporarily removing customs duties on Ukrainian exports to EU countries, in particular by November 1, 2014.

The relative decision was taken in Strasbourg on Tuesday at the sitting of the European Commission and sent for a final approval to the EU Council and European Parliament.

"The European Commission is committed, and ready, to support Ukraine to stabilize its economic and financial situation", said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

He noted that "last Thursday, the EU Heads of State and Government welcomed the EUR 11 billion package of support for Ukraine presented by European Commission."

"The commission is moving ahead fast with the implementation of this support package, and today has adopted the first of the foreseen measures – a set of trade provisions that will represent an economic benefit to Ukraine of around 500 million euros per year. This proposal is a concrete, tangible measure of EU support for Ukraine," the EC president said.

The idea is not to await the entry into force of the Association Agreement's (AA) provisions on a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), but to advance the implementation of its tariffs section by means of autonomous trade preferences and to start unilaterally the reduction or elimination of the EU's customs duties on goods originating in Ukraine.

However, the preferences are not a substitute for the DCFTA and will be granted for a limited period only until November 1, 2014. It is expected that the DCFTA between the EU and Ukraine will be signed and provisionally apply before the first of November 2014, in which case the unilateral system of autonomous trade preferences will end.

Once adopted by the EU, this unilateral measure will allow Ukrainian exporters to benefit from preferential access to the EU market in full line with the schedule of concessions negotiated under the DCFTA. Ukraine will not have to provide extra access to EU exports in return. The temporary elimination of the customs duties will be total or partial, depending on the sector.

"The idea is for the EU to open its doors to exports from Ukraine, helping to give a real boost to Ukrainian businesses with a real impact on the daily-lives of all Ukrainians", said EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. "With this rapid response, the European Commission has shown it stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine and I would now encourage the European Parliament and the Council to fast track the approval process, so the tariff reductions can be in place by June," he said.

The annual value of this support measure will be nearly EUR 500 million in tariff reductions, of which almost EUR 400 million accrue to the agricultural sector.

Existing EU tariffs for industrial goods exported from Ukraine will be removed immediately for 94.7% of products. For the remaining handful of products (some chemical products, etc.) the tariffs will be reduced.

As for agricultural products, the EU has taken important but more limited action to open up its market to Ukrainian agriculture. This will ensure the European agricultural sector is not harmed by this unilateral trade action. In concrete terms, the EU will grant immediate and unlimited preferences to 82.2% of Ukraine's exports. For the other products (cereals, pork, beef, poultry and a handful of additional products) a partial liberalization is achieved by the granting of duty-free tariff rate quotas (TRQs), which limit the amount of certain goods able to benefit from the trade preferences.

Besides, the EU will grant immediate preferences to 83.4% of Ukraine's food exports. The remaining 15.9% will be partially liberalized through TRQs.