Bulgarian Agriculture and Food Minister Georgi Takhov asked the European Commission to adopt protective measures with regard to honey imports from Ukraine to Bulgaria.
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He asked that in his speech at a meeting of the Council on Agriculture and Fisheries (AGRIFISH), Ukrainian media said, citing Bulgaria's Agriculture Ministry.
Takhov's request was backed by a representative of Romania.
Ukrainian honey imports hinder the sale of domestic products, Takhov said. Large amounts of Ukrainian honey supplied to the European market at very low prices are putting considerable pressure on the prices for Bulgarian honey.
"The amounts of honey imported from Ukraine to our country from January to October 2024 increased by more than 30% compared to the period the year before," Takhov said, adding that these large imports from Ukraine are putting Bulgarian producers in a difficult situation.
Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy, for his part, said at a press conference after the AGRIFISH meeting that Bulgaria and Romania are seeking the enactment of protective measures with respect to Ukrainian honey imports to the EU because the tariff-free quote set by the Autonomous Trade Liberalization Regulation has been exhausted, while "the customs duty creates problems on internal markets burdened by imports."
Effective steps need to be taken to stop fake honey from reaching the EU market by labeling and differentiating between natural honey and artificial honey, Nagy said. It is necessary to offset "emergency competitive disadvantages" and provide additional support to the bee farming sector, he said.
On August 20, 2024, the European Commission imposed quotas on imports of Ukrainian honey because supplies of this product to the European market had exceeded the tariff-free volumes.
Ukraine's honey imports to the EU between the beginning of the year and August were above the set quote of 44,418 tonnes.
Imports of Ukrainian honey will from August 21 until June 5, 2025 be subject to tariff rate quotas from the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, corresponding to 5/12 of the threshold to activate the emergency brake. The new quote for Ukrainian honey imports is 18,507 tonnes.
The European Commission imposed quotas on imports of Ukrainian eggs and sugar into the European Union from June 2, 2024 to June 5, 2025. The new quota for eggs is 9,662 tonnes and 109,440 tonnes for sugar.
On May 13, 2024, the Council of the EU approved an extension to temporary trade liberalization measures for Ukraine for another year, until June 5, 2025.
At the same time, an emergency braking mechanism was envisaged for particularly sensitive agricultural products, such as sugar, eggs, poultry, oats, corn, honey, and cereals, if the import of these products in 2024 exceeds the average volumes recorded in the second half of 2021 and during 2022 and 2023.
Similar emergency brakes may be applied in 2025 if, between January 1 and June 5, 2025, the volume of Ukrainian exports exceeds 5/12 of the quota set for 2024.
Under Article 4 (7) of the Regulation on Autonomous Trade Measures for Ukrainian products, Ukraine is allowed tariff-free exports of 57,101 tonnes of poultry, 9,662 tonnes of eggs, 109,439 tonnes of sugar, 18,507 tonnes of honey, 4,648 tonnes of corn, 1,017 tonnes of oats, and 8,603 tonnes of cereals to the EU between June 6, 2024, and June 5, 2025. ■
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