On Tuesday 28 January, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation to impose customs duties on certain agricultural products and nitrogen-based fertilisers from Russia and Belarus. In so doing, it is responding to a strong request from several Member States to do even more damage to the Russian and Belarusian economies (see EUROPE 13529/6). The Russian products targeted accounted for 15% of agricultural imports from Russia in 2023, and remain the only agricultural goods for which tariffs have not increased since the start of the war.
With this move, the European Commission hopes to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russia, and therefore its vulnerability in terms of food security. It also wants to support the EU’s fertiliser industry.
Unlike the restrictive measures imposed by the EU, these tariffs are part of trade policy and do not require a unanimous vote in the EU Council.
See the proposed Regulation: https://aeur.eu/f/f9o (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)