EU proposes tariffs on more Russia farm imports

EU proposes tariffs on more Russia farm imports

Brussels, Belgium — The European Commission on Tuesday proposed tariffs on additional farm imports from Russia and its ally Belarus, in a new effort to choke off revenues to fund Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The 27-nation EU has hit Russia with multiple rounds of sanctions in response to its all-out invasion of its neighbor in 2022.

The latest tariffs would further impact “Russia’s ability to wage its war of aggression against Ukraine,” said a statement from the EU executive.

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The measures, which need approval from the Council of EU member states and the bloc’s parliament, target the 15 percent of Russian farm goods that were not affected by sweeping tariffs that came into force last July.

They would continue to spare Russian agricultural goods and fertilizer transiting through the EU to countries outside the bloc, to ensure that food supplies for elsewhere, notably Africa and Asia, are not impacted.

“Once adopted by the Council, all agricultural imports from Russia would be the subject of EU tariffs,” the statement said.

EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said the tariffs were “carefully calibrated to serve multiple goals”.

“We aim to weaken further Russia’s war economy, while reducing EU dependencies, supporting our industry, and preserving global food security,” he was quoted as saying.

Sefcovic vowed to take “every step necessary to protect our fertilizers industry and farmers”.

As well as farm products, the measures also concern certain nitrogen-based fertilizers.

In addition to denting Russia’s war coffers, the commission said the proposal aimed to reduce dependencies on imports from Russia and Belarus — particularly of fertilizers.

Such imports, it said, “make the EU vulnerable to potential coercive actions by Russia and thus present a risk to EU food security”.

The commission said the latest tariffs would “support the growth of domestic production and the EU’s fertilizer industry, which has suffered during the energy crisis”.

Under the measures that took effect last July, the EU imposed tariffs on cereals, oilseeds and derived products from Russia and Belarus at a level aimed at effectively halting their import into the bloc.

The EU has approached punitive action against Russia’s agricultural or fertilizer sector with great caution, fearing any moves that could hurt the global cereal market as well as food security in Africa and Asia.

Concerning Russian farm goods bound for third countries, the commission said the new measures would not affect their purchase and sale, storage in EU customs warehouses or transportation on EU vessels.

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