EU Weighs Raising Tariffs on Russian, Belarusian Grain
The European Commission on March 22 proposed increasing tariffs on imports of cereals, oilseeds and derivative products from Russia and Belarus, including "wheat, maize, and sunflower meal." The European Council will next review the proposal.
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The commission said the measures are meant to "prevent EU market destabilisation through any future significant redirection of Russian grain products onto the EU market," address Russian exports of "illegally appropriated grain" produced in Ukraine, and bar Russia and Belarus from using revenues from those exports.
If approved, the new tariffs will be "high enough to discourage current imports," the commission said in a question and answer document. "Depending on the specific product, they will increase to either €95 per tonne, or to an ad valorem duty of 50%." Russia and Belarus also will no longer be able to benefit from the EU's World Trade Organization quotas on grain "that offer better tariff treatment for some products."
The commission added that the "transit of cereals, oilseeds and derived products from Russia and Belarus to third countries is unaffected by today's proposal."