Ukraine needs long-term plan for food exports to EU

BRUSSELS, Mar 5 (Reuters): The European Union must allow Ukrainian food producers access to EU markets long term, rather than just extending measures year by year, leaving them at the mercy of political pressures, a senior Ukrainian official said on Monday.

Ukraine wants to permanently remove tariffs and quotas on EU agricultural imports by updating its trade deal with the EU, or at least extend the current suspension for three years, Markiyan Dmytrasevych, deputy minister for agrarian policy and food, said. "We need something more convenient for planning," he told Reuters in an interview during a trip to Brussels. "A lot of resources go into these talks every year. Then we have new demands, new protests in the EU and its member states."

Ukrainian food exporters have faced a wave of protests, including blockades of border crossings, from EU farmers in recent months, with many angry over what they say is unfair competition from cheaper Ukrainian imports.

The European Commission has proposed import duties and quotas on Ukrainian farm produce - originally suspended in 2022 after Russia's invasion, which hit shipments via the Black Sea - be lifted for another year to June 2025.