Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area
The automatic reintroduction of this tariff quota is a result of the revised Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) in place since 6 June 2024.
The revised ATMs include an emergency brake for seven agricultural products to be automatically triggered if import volumes reach the average yearly imports recorded between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2023.
For honey, this average is 44 417,56 tonnes. Article 4 of Regulation 2024/1392 establishes that once these volumes are reached, the Commission has 14 days to reintroduce the corresponding tariff-rate quota from the DCFTA between the EU and Ukraine. As imports of honey from Ukraine since the beginning of 2024 are already above the volumes set in the DCFTA tariff-rate quota, additional imports will be subject to most-favoured nations (MFN) duties.
As of 1 January 2025 and until 5 June 2025, a new tariff-rate quota, corresponding to five twelfth of the threshold set for triggering the emergency brake will be introduced. For honey, the volume of this new quota is set at 18 507,32 tonnes.
Imports of Ukrainian honey into the EU have been fairly stable over the last five years, with an average of around 49 000 tonnes per year.
Background
In force since 4 June 2022, the Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) have had a clear positive effect on Ukraine's trade to the EU. Together with the Solidarity Lanes, the ATMs have ensured that trade flows from Ukraine to the EU have remained remarkably stable in 2022 and 2023 despite the major disruptions caused by the war and against the general trend of a decrease of Ukraine's trade overall. EU imports from Ukraine amounted to €22.8 billion in 2023 compared to pre-war levels of €24 billion in 2021.
The latest ATMs have introduced an emergency brake for eggs, poultry, sugar, oats, maize, groats and honey, to also be mindful of EU sensitivities. The precise level of imports and the relevant trigger levels can be followed in real time on the customs union’s webpage.
For more information
Regulation (EU) 2024/1392 on temporary trade-liberalisation measures supplementing trade concessions applicable to Ukrainian products
EU-Ukraine Trade Relations
EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area
Previous article
