European parliament boosts EU food import quotas from Ukraine

Members of the European Parliament voted in favor to
increase quotas for custom-free imports of some agricultural products from
Ukraine as part of their free trade agreement, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency
reported on July 4. The amounts have yet to be confirmed. Earlier, the EU
parliamentary committee on international trade proposed boosting quotas for
barley by 325 kt (or by 130%), corn by 625 kt (156%), wheat by 65 kt (7%), oats
by 4 kt (100%) and honey by 2.5 kt (50%). The new preferences will last up to
three years after EU Council approval later this month.

Alexander
Paraschiy: Higher grain quotas to the
EU is positive for Ukraine, but they won’t have much of an impact on exports
overall. If the quotas will increase, they still will account for less than 6%
of Ukraine’s total annual exports of grains.