The Council of the European Union is about to validate a mandate that will make it possible to curb imports of a new cut of chicken impacting on European farmers.
Broadly speaking, in its free trade agreement with the Ukraine (DCFTA), the European Union had granted Ukrainian poultry meat tariff quotas for high quality cuts such as chicken breast, and duty-free access for certain lower quality cuts.
However, imports falling under the category of ‘other cuts’ (CN 0207 13 70) have increased dramatically since 2016, when the DCFTA was first implemented. The reason for this increase was the invention of a new cut, including chicken breast, which was entering the EU at zero rate.
“This cut has never been traded in the past, it is a new cut [...] and therefore can be classified as ‘other cut’, for which the agreement provides for zero duty”, explained the representative of the Commission, Luis Carazo, on 16 May in the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee.
The Commission therefore promised to ask the Ukrainian authorities to respect the spirit of the agreement, since chicken breast is a sensitive product for European producers. The institution proposed, as a second step, to ask the Council for a mandate to amend the DCFTA.
The Trade Policy Committee (alternates) discussed the text of the mandate on Tuesday 11 December. The text is expected to be approved by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Governments of the Member States (Coreper) on 17 December and by the Council on 20 December. (original version in French by Hermine Donceel)