KYIV – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on June 27, 2014, signed the Ukraine-European Union Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area as part of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.
It took effect only on January 1 of this year, after being delayed for a year at the request of the Russian government to conduct further consultations, after which Russia nonetheless remained dissatisfied, canceling its own free trade area with Ukraine in mid-December 2015.
“Thanks to such tariff liberalization, less expensive European goods will enter our market, which will have their import duties canceled on the next day” after the trade area’s launch, said Economic Development and Trade Deputy Minister Nataliya Mykolska in summarizing the Ukraine-EU trade area, as reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“Other than that, it will stimulate domestic producers to perfect their goods, improve their quality and direct more attention on their marketing,” she noted.
What does Ukraine gain?
• 97 percent of EU import duties on Ukrainian products are eliminated.
• The average tariff on Ukrainian exports to the EU is reduced to 0.5 percent from 7.6 percent.
• EU import duties on hats, umbrellas, cobblestones and other products from Ukraine are reduced over a three-year period.
• EU import duties on dishes, sink equipment, tractors and other products from Ukraine are reduced over a five-year period.
• EU import duties on cranes, excavators, vehicles, electric engines and other products from Ukraine are reduced over a seven-year period.
• EU import duties on light automobile and other products from Ukraine are reduced over a 10-year period.
• Ukrainian industry is required to adopt EU standards over a seven-year period.
• Ukrainian companies are allowed to participate in state tenders in the EU.
What does the EU gain?
• Ukrainian import duties on EU products are reduced.
• Ukrainian import duties on fish, shoes, pipes and other products from the EU are reduced over a three-year period.
• Ukrainian import duties on telephony products, radio products, camera lenses and other products from the EU are reduced over a five-year period.
• Ukrainian import duties on video-recording products, motorized vehicles, fertilizers and other products from the EU are reduced over a seven-year period.
What do both sides gain?
• Duties on certain industrial, agricultural and food products are eliminated.
• Import duties on textiles, confectionary products, chemicals, seeds, certain grains, fruits, dried fruits, spices, food flavorings are symmetrically eliminated.
Source: Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.