The EU Council has finally approved the extension until June 2024 of the tariff-free trade regime for Ukraine for an additional 12 months, mainly concerning agricultural products, reported Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Yulia Svyrydenko.

"This is an extremely important aspect of political support for Ukraine, despite the sensitivity of the issue of trading agricultural products... The EU's autonomous trade preferences concern agricultural products fully liberalized in the Agreement. These are 36 categories of goods subject to tariff quotas and goods subject to the system of entry prices. These restrictions were lifted in June 2022, and now full trade freedom will be in effect until June 2025," the press service of the ministry quoted her as saying.

The ministry said that the EU's autonomous trade preferences imply that anti-dumping and safeguard measures will not be applied to metallurgical products.

However, a sharp change in trade flows between Ukraine and the EU, particularly a sharp increase in trade in certain goods through neighboring EU member states, has led to a series of negative decisions, including border blockades.

"For a long time, we have been working with the governments of neighboring states and EU institutions to address these issues. In response, the EU Regulation extending autonomous trade preferences contains provisions for special safeguard measures, including automatic measures for maize, poultry meat, sugar, oats, and cereals. The most important thing is that Ukraine and the EU have agreed that this extension of autonomous trade preferences will be the last, and by next summer, the parties will update the Association Agreement to establish the envisaged trading conditions for the period until accession to the EU," said Svyrydenko.

According to her information, these negotiations will not only cover tariffs on agricultural products that are not yet liberalized but also production standards, which will help dispel prejudices against Ukrainian products. The Ukrainian government will also seek the removal of all temporary measures adopted by neighboring EU member states and Ukraine that contradict the logic of open trade between us.

Currently, the EU accounts for 65% of Ukraine's exports and 51% of its imports and is a key trading partner for Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy reminded.