EU Implements Emergency Brake on Ukrainian Honey Imports

Starting today, August 21, a new measure known as the "emergency brake" for Ukrainian honey imports into the EU comes into effect, according to the European Commission (EC). This provision will be in place until June 5, 2025, and is part of revised autonomous trade measures.

The measures, which will apply from June 6, 2024, cover seven agricultural products: eggs, poultry, sugar, oats, maize, cereals, and honey. The emergency brake is activated automatically when the import volume exceeds the average annual amount recorded between July 1, 2021, and December 31, 2023. For honey, this average is 44,417.56 tons. Given that Ukrainian copper imports have already surpassed the agreed volumes under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) tariff quota for 2024, additional honey imports will be subjected to the most-favored-nation tariff.

A new tariff quota will be established for the period from January 1 to June 5, 2025, set at 18,507.32 tons, which is 5/12 of the threshold that triggers the emergency brake. Despite the recent adjustments, imports of Ukrainian honey into the EU have been relatively stable over the past five years, averaging about 49,000 tons annually.

In Bulgaria, poultry farmers are advocating for a ban on Ukrainian egg imports. During a recent meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and Food, representatives from the Association of Industrial Poultry Breeding discussed the issue. They requested that the European Commission activate the safeguard mechanism to ban these imports within 120 days. The concern stems from the fact that the annual quota for Ukrainian eggs was exceeded four times by May, without any change in end-user prices. This situation is putting pressure on Bulgarian poultry farmers, forcing them to sell at lower prices while only a few traders benefit from the reduced costs.

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