New barriers for Russian agricultural products and fertilisers

European Union member states on Friday backed plans to impose extra duties on imports of agricultural produce and some fertilisers from Russia and its ally Belarus, to increase financial pressure on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

The new duties „are expected to reduce Russia's export earnings and thus limit Russia's ability to finance its aggressive war“, the European Council said in a statement.

The measures proposed by the European Commission in January were endorsed by EU government representatives at a meeting in Brussels on Friday. The final text of the Directive will be negotiated with the European Parliament before it enters into force.

The new proposal is aimed at targeting the 15% of Russian agricultural goods that were not affected by the high tariffs that came into force last July. If implemented, it would impose EU taxes on all agricultural imports from Russia.

The impact will also apply to certain nitrogen fertilisers, which account for more than 25% of total EU imports – around 3.6 million tonnes with a total value of €1.28 billion.

The latest measure is aimed not only at trimming Russia's military coffers, but also at reducing dependence on imports from Russia and Belarus and supporting EU producers, the Council said.

To protect farmers, duties on fertilisers will be increased gradually over three years. In addition, measures are foreseen to mitigate the impact on farmers in the event of significant price increases as a result of the duties.

Under a package that entered into force last July, the EU imposed duties on cereals, oilseeds and derivatives from Russia and Belarus at levels that would effectively stop their imports into the Community.

The duties would not affect Russian exports destined for third countries and transiting through Europe, according to the European Commission's proposal.