European Commission increases tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus

The European Commission has presented an official proposal to increase tariffs on imports of grains and oilseeds and their derivatives from Russia and Belarus to the EU.

In almost all cases, tariffs on Russian and Belarusian exports to the EU will increase to €95 per tonne, the proposal says. The Commission stressed that although these tariffs are high enough to suppress imports of certain agricultural products to the EU in practice, they will not affect exports to third countries.

The decision is intended to prevent destabilisation of the EU market through any future significant diversion of Russian grain products to the EU market. The EU farming community had previously expressed concern about this risk.

The imposed tariffs are necessary to combat Russian exports of misappropriated grain from Ukraine, some of which is illegally exported to the EU market and deliberately labelled as "Russian", the Commission said.

"The tariffs proposed today will ensure that this illicit export method is no longer profitable," they stated.

The tariffs should also prevent Russia from using revenues from grain exports to the EU to finance its aggressive war against Ukraine. 

Increased tariffs would also apply to Belarus, given the country's close political and economic ties with Russia.

The transit of grains, oilseeds and their derivatives from Russia and Belarus to third countries is not covered by the proposal. In this way, the EU wants to remain committed to promoting food security around the world.

The proposal will now be considered by the Council of the European Union, and once approved by the Council, the tariffs will be immediately applied.

During the EU leaders' summit on 21 March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for measures to be taken against Russian grain. He called it "unfair" that Russian food products are being shipped to Europe while Ukrainian grain is being thrown onto the asphalt or railway tracks.

The day before, the ministers of agriculture of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Czechia appealed to the European Commission to ban grain imports from Russia and Belarus to the European Union.