The European Union has announced that it has reached a new long-term trade agreement with Ukraine covering food imports from the war-torn country.

The news has sparked anger among EU farmers, AFP reported.

“With this modernized agreement, we are securing trade flows from Ukraine to Europe and global markets,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

“At the same time, we continue to protect the interests of our farmers,” she added.

Brussels and Kyiv had been arguing over the agreement after protests by farmers prompted the EU to impose quotas on duty-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural products into the bloc.

After Russia's invasion in February 2022, the EU granted duty-free access to most Ukrainian agricultural products to help the country's economy.

But angry EU farmers said Ukrainian products were unfairly undercutting their prices.

In response, Brussels added certain restrictions in 2024 when it extended the agreement by another year, introducing a maximum ceiling for certain duty-free products such as cereals, poultry meat, eggs, sugar, and corn.

The European Commission said that under the new agreement, which still needs to be finalized, quotas for these sensitive agricultural sectors will remain in place.

The new conditions “improve access compared to the previous agreement from 2016, but limit imports compared to their peak levels,” said European Commissioner for Agriculture Kristof Hansen.

In return, Kiev will reduce its quotas for pork, poultry meat, and sugar imported from the EU and will strive to bring its food production standards in line with those of the 27-member bloc by 2028, Brussels said.

Agricultural powerhouse Ukraine is desperately trying to maintain preferential access for its products to the EU as it seeks to sustain its revenues after three and a half years of grueling war. | BGNES