Ukraine free trade agreement voted

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 10. 21. 11:25

🎧 Hallgasd a cikket: Nyelv: Sebesség: 1.05×

The European Council has voted in favor of the Brussels proposal for a free trade agreement with Ukraine. The National Chamber of Agriculture and the Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Circles and Farmers’ Cooperatives strongly oppose the agreement, as it endangers the future of European food production and poses a serious food safety risk to consumers.

The last obstacle to the Ukrainian free trade agreement is slowly being removed, as the European Council recently voted in favor of the agreement with Ukraine – now of indefinite duration. Among the member states, only Hungary and Slovakia voted against it.

Based on the draft previously presented by the European Commission, the Ukrainian side would receive significant concessions. Compared to the pre-war quotas, honey imports could increase sixfold, sugar fivefold, and egg imports threefold based on the increased quotas. In the case of poultry, the quota will increase to 120,000 tons, while the situation is even more serious for corn, since despite the quota, the duty is 0 percent, so it can be imported from Ukraine without restrictions.

It is also a cause for serious concern that trade in mushrooms, for example, will be completely liberalized, which could cause serious market disruption in the European market, especially in the markets of the member states neighboring Ukraine.

While the European Commission temporarily allowed the opening of markets during the war, the current agreement would open the markets to Ukrainian imports for an indefinite period. As is known, the unlimited admission of Ukrainian imports drove down purchase prices in Europe, and this could only be remedied by a unilateral ban by Ukraine’s neighboring states (e.g. Hungary, Poland, Romania).

Another point of the agreement shows complete naivety – or even deliberate misrepresentation – that Ukraine would be obliged to adapt to EU plant protection regulations from 2028. However, the seriousness of the expectation is highly questionable, since compliance with the obligation would only be monitored by the European Commission with a written report to be prepared every six months.

The National Chamber of Agriculture and the Association of Hungarian Farmers’ Circles and Farmers’ Cooperatives firmly reject the free trade agreement to be concluded with Ukraine. This would increase the volume of Ukrainian imports many times over the pre-war level, which could have disastrous consequences for the European Union’s agri-food production. Not to mention, it would also pose significant food safety risks.