The European Commission announced on Friday 1 September that the import duties on maize, sorghum and rye had been updated. From 1 September, they were increased to €10.95 per tonne, following on from the Commission decision to introduce duties of €5.16 per tonne from 8 August.
The reason for the rise in these import duties is the weaker dollar, which has again caused a fall in the price of maize in Chicago.
The automatic mechanism that calculates import duties was triggered in order to avoid putting European producers at a disadvantage in current market conditions.
The update is based on the 2010 regulation on cereal sector import duties which makes provision for automatic triggering when the average price on arrival in Rotterdam, calculated daily over the previous ten days, is €5 lower than the threshold of €157/tonne CIF (cost, insurance, freight). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)