Svyrydenko explains how Ukraine will trade with EU from June 6

First Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Economy Yuliya Svyrydenko explained how Ukraine will trade with the European Union from June 6, when the so-called "trade visa-free regime" ceased. Svyrydenko announced this on Facebook, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

Svyrydenko, in particular, emphasized that from June 6, only additional liberalization by the EU in the form of autonomous trade measures ceases to operate, the free trade regime between the EU and Ukraine remains.

She also reported that as of today, the scenario that the European Commission laid out a year ago - the transition from autonomous trade measures to an updated and more liberalized free trade agreement - has not yet been implemented. According to her, active negotiations are ongoing right now and there is a desire to complete this work in the coming days.

"The lack of concessions from the EU on the revision of quotas affects trade worth USD 3.5 billion and could reduce revenue by USD 800 million. But this is the worst and worst-case scenario. In the world of trade, the final effect is always different," she noted.

According to Svyrydenko, currently all trade with the EU remains free, with the exception of 40 categories of agricultural products that are subject to tariff quotas.

"The experience of trade without restrictions has shown that in 17 out of 40 tariff quotas, trade volumes are greater than the tariff quota at the 2021 level. Therefore, for 23 goods, the restoration of quotas will not become a restriction - for example, garlic, which we exported in the amount of 235 tons last year under a quota of 500 tons. And even for these goods, the restoration of quotas will only partially affect trade volumes," the minister noted.

In particular, according to her, corn exports to the EU reached a record 14 million tons by 2022 with a formal quota of 650,000 tons, this is due to the fact that the EU does not apply duties on corn imports at all, except for russian corn.

At the same time, there are goods for which the restoration of tariff quotas will reduce exports, and the most significant is the export of sugar, the quota for which is 20,000 tons with exports last year of 311,000 tons.

Today, according to Svyrydenko, even exporters of sensitive products will not notice any actual changes, because the EU has "reset" the calculation of volumes for quota goods and started the countdown anew.

"Of course, in 2 months for such goods as powdered milk or tomato paste, problems with market access may arise. That is why it is so important to complete negotiations on increasing and eliminating quotas in the coming days," she noted.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the European Commission decided to terminate the autonomous trade measures (ATM) regime for Ukraine (the so-called trade visa-free regime), which was in effect from May 2022 to June 5, but stated its intention to ensure a smooth transition to a new scheme, where all conditions for trade liberalization will be fixed in the free trade agreement between Ukraine and the EU.