The EU launches duties on cereals from Russia and Belarus

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BRUSSELS – The European Commission presented today, Friday 22 March, a measure with which it will increase the duties applied to cereals and oilseeds from Russia and Belarus. The main objective of the measure is to avoid a potential destabilization of the European market in the event of a further increase in Russian imports. For some time, many European agricultural organizations had called for measures to stabilize prices.

«Russian and Belarusian cereals and related products have so far been able to enter the European market with low or no customs duties – explained the Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis -. We have seen a sharp increase in these imports in 2023. The tariffs we propose will make imports of these products commercially unprofitable, thus also preventing possible future increases that might destabilize the European market.”

A brake on imports

With this measure, the EU authorities want to stop not only imports of Russian wheat, but also imports of Ukrainian wheat stolen by the Russians. A European official explained that the measure should also prevent sales of Russian wheat to European Union member countries from helping to finance Russia’s war in Ukraine. «The transit of goods on European territory will not be affected by the decision», he then specified.

«The new tariffs have been set at levels that are high enough to discourage current imports – explained another community official -. Depending on the specific product, they will increase to 95 euros per ton or a duty to value by 50%”. According to the European Commission, Russia’s cereal production capacity has risen enormously in recent times, from 35 million tonnes to 50 million tonnes.

Over the past few years, Brussels has noticed a sharp increase in imports from Russia. In 2023, Russia exported 4.2 million tonnes of cereals, oilseeds and derived products to the EU, worth 1.3 billion euros. On the Italian front, the data are impressive: imports from Russia have grown in the last year by 1,164%, to the point that the country has even surpassed Canada as the main foreign supplier of Italian pasta producers.