Ukraine mulling revision of tariffs for some goods with WTO
Kyiv, January 10 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Ukrainian government is deciding whether to initiate talks with the World Trade Organization (WTO) on increasing rates of duty on goods imported to Ukraine from a list formed according to proposals from Ukrainian business, Government Commissioner for Ukraine's European Integration Valeriy Piatnytsky has said.
"A list of the goods has been created, and it includes cars, sugar and certain types of meat," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on January 6, 2012.
Piatnytsky said that the government is also studying the application of other measures to protect national goods producers, as the option of the revision of tariffs with the WTO could be ineffective.
He said that most cars imported to Ukraine come from Russia, with which Kyiv has an agreement on free trade, and via the European Union, with which a free trade agreement has been prepared for signing.
He added that Ukraine has launched an investigation into imports of the two most popular types of cars – cars with engines up to 1,600 cubic centimeters and with engines up to 2,200 cubic centimeters.
"If the restrictive measures were not approved after investigations, what need would we have for talks [with the WTO countries]?" he said.
He added that a 50% duty is in effect for imported sugar, and the revision of the tariff quota of over 260,000 tonnes or 10-15% of annual consumption is unlikely.
Piatnytsky said that other WTO countries would demand something from Ukraine for agreement to increase imported duties if the tariffs were revised.
Commenting on disputes with the Customs Union states over some types of goods, he said that the active position of Ukraine and other countries in working groups on Kazakhstan and Belarus' joining the WTO could partially resolve the problem, as the Customs Union foresees the implementation of all agreements reached at national levels. He said that the average tariff rates in the Customs Union when all of the three countries join the WTO could be even lower than Ukraine has now.