The European Union nations want to impose additional tariffs on food, fertilizer and live livestock from Russia and Belarus, which are aimed at reducing Russia’s export profits and making it more difficult for Russia to finance its war against Ukraine.
The EU states are thus adopting a proposal made by the European Commission in January, they announced on Friday.
“The agricultural products affected by the new tariffs constitute 15% of all agricultural imports from Russia,” the statement said, referring to figures from 2023.
Negotiations are imminent
If the European Commission’s proposal is implemented, this would mean that all agricultural imports from Russia would be subject to duties, they said.
Duties would also be levied on nitrogen-based fertilizer. This reportedly accounts for a quarter of all imports from Russia into the EU.
The European Parliament must give its approval for the tariffsto take effect. European Parliament members must form an opinion on the plan and then negotiate a final compromise with the EU states.
The lobby group Copa-Cogeca, an organization that promotes the interests of farmers, is calling for implementation to be postponed by a year. It also wants import duties on fertilizers from other third countries should be abolished.