EU Council agreed to apply high tariffs on Russian grain to reduce the Russian Federation's income.
What is known about the increase in customs duties on agricultural products from Russia and Belarus
EU ministers agreed to raise tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus from July 1, Dombrovskis wrote.
He added that the corresponding decision was taken to stop the destabilization of the agricultural sector of the European Union, to limit Russia's income, which it uses to finance the war in Ukraine and to fight against the illegal export of Ukrainian grain stolen by Russia to the EU markets.
https://x.com/VDombrovskis/status/1796108296656498856
EU imported 2.5 million tons of Russian agricultural products in 2023
In 2023, the European Union imported 2.5 million tons of agricultural products from the Russian Federation. Italy was the largest importer of Russian grain, followed by Latvia. This was stated by the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski.
As for trade with Russia, the EU has recently set certain barriers for it and introduced tariffs that reduce imports (grain) from Russia. The total volume of such imports throughout the European Union was about 2.5 million tons in 2022 — 1 million tons of grain and 1.5 million tons of sunflower. In 2023, this volume remained almost unchanged, said the European Commissioner.
The largest importer of Russian grain was Italy — 478,000 tons, followed by Latvia — 360,000 tons, Lithuania also received a certain amount, now it refuses to continue such imports, he added.
He said Estonia also imported a small share of Russian grain products last year. For Poland, the volume of such imports was 3,500 tons of grain and 4,000 tons of sunflowers, which is generally a "very small" volume of agricultural imports. According to the European Commissioner, agricultural imports from Russia to countries such as Hungary and Slovakia also remained at a low level.
Wojciechovsky reminded that trade in food products from the Russian Federation remains a sensitive issue.
We are now open to introducing restrictions on (agricultural) imports from Russia. But we have to remember that trade goes both ways. The European Union exported agricultural goods to Russia for 7 billion in 2023 and imported goods from there for 2 billion euros. We have to take this factor into account, — summed up the European Commissioner.
