Ukraine exhausts EU wheat and corn tariffs in first week of year

The European Union’s preferential tariff rate quotas (TRQ) for Ukrainian imports have been exhausted in the first week of the year, data from the European Commission showed Tuesday.

Registrations for the sale of 1.02 million mt of wheat and 1.03 million mt of corn were all allocated to sellers of Ukrainian cereals.

This figure includes the pre-existing quotas of 970,000 mt for wheat and 500,000 mt for corn, as well as the first additional tranches of 65,000 mt and 625,000 mt granted last year.

With the TRQ exhausted, any further Ukrainian wheat imports are subject to a duty of €95/mt. Low quality wheat from other origins is subject to a €12 import duty.

Corn is subject to a variable fee based on a calculation from the European Commission which factors in market forces.

The TRQ grants duty free access for imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the EU.

It was extended after the EU and Ukraine signed the so-called Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement and Accession Agreement which came into force in 2016.

Ukraine has exported 22.8 million mt of grains since the start of the marketing year on July 1, a fall of close to 10% on the previous year’s figures, government data showed Wednesday.