Imports of fertilizers from Russia to be restricted after passing special bill by Rada
The interagency commission for international trade has decided to introduce antidumping duties on imports of Russian fertilizers and proposed to temporarily postpone their introduction until Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passes a special bill to avoid possible negative consequences for the agricultural sector.
"Soon the government would send a bill on measures to diversify fertilizer supplies via the reduction of imports duty on most popular types of fertilizers (ammonium nitrate, urea and urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) to lawmakers," the commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
The commission said that it is waiting for an application from the Agricultural Policy and Food Ministry asking to suspend the antidumping measures imposed to consider it before the duties take effect.
The statement does not have information about the size of the duties. According to the report, the key conclusions of the Economic Development and Trade Ministry on the results of the antidumping investigation into imports of some types of fertilizers to Ukraine from Russia are evidence of the dumping fact.
"These conclusions show that imports of Russian fertilizers to Ukraine at dumping prices cause damage to Ukrainian chemical fertilizer producers and jeopardize Ukraine's food security," the commission said.
Russia is the key supplier of fertilizers in Ukraine (80-90% of total volume), and imports of fertilizers at dumping prices puts Ukrainian farmers in a dangerous dependence on their supplies in the future.
"The unexpected unilateral stoppage of supplies of Russian fertilizers could be another tool of Russia's aggression against Ukraine in trade," the commission said.
The commission said that main consumers of Russian fertilizers are farmers, and their position should be taken into account when the antidumping duties are imposed. The commission insists on taking measures to diversify supplies of fertilizers to Ukraine (from China, the Middle East, the United States and other countries). It is proposed to cut import duties on fertilizers.