Argentine Beekeepers' Magazine

(Espacio Apícola - September 24th, 2024 - Update on October 7th)"The initiative aims to advance permanent and reciprocal liberalisation of trade with Ukraine, with the aim to work towards Ukraine's integration into the single market". (CALL FOR EVIDENCE FOR AN INITIATIVE - without an impact assessment - Ref. Ares (2024) 6238483 - 03/09/2024).

Traditional Ukrainian honey exports to Russia have been sent to the United States and Europe for some years now. Since January 1st 2016, an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement establishing a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) has been provisionally in force.

In June 2022, four months after Putin's invasion of Ukraine began, when the US investigation into dumping of Ukrainian honey was already underway, all duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU were eliminated, as one of the EU's support measures for the country massively and unjustifiably invaded by Russia. This advantage explained at the time the harsh response of Ukrainian companies to the US Department of Commerce, which had a demand from American beekeepers to impose more than 40% tariffs on Ukrainian honey.

The EU's measures, especially the elimination of export duties, have caused concern and rejection among European agricultural producers, including beekeepers who saw their market threatened by the entry of honey from Ukraine, also suspected of fraud, at very low prices. Based on this, a safeguard was established to restrict this benefit to an export volume equivalent to that prior to the invasion. At the same time, in the United States, the Petitioners withdrew their actions against Ukrainian honey in solidarity with the invaded country and already in 2023 Ukrainian honey returned to the United States at a very different price from that which motivated anti-dumping demand.

"The Commission has been monitoring these imports closely -they say- in accordance with the ATM Regulation and has not found an adverse impact on the EU market as a whole.// and "(It) will continue to closely monitor imports from Ukraine and will analyse their effect on the EU market ahead of presenting its proposal for a Council decision" (sic).

29 opinions have been published regarding this consultation to date. There are a couple opinions of a superstructure political nature in favor of the initiative, there is also a positive opinion expressed by a European association linked to dairy production, then, the majority is against the initiative (mainly Poles, Czechs and Slovaks individuals) or points out that production conditions similar to those in force in the EU should be required, tariffs, quotas, etc. The most active sector in rejecting the initiative is the sugar sector, both with regard to the difference in prices and the requirements for the use of agrochemicals that would occur in Ukraine and that are prohibited in the EU.

The European Federation of Honey Packers and Distributors (FEEDM - Fédération Européenne des Emballeurs et Distributeurs de Miel) announced on its LinkedIn account that it would submit a contribution to the initiative, whose publication we await with great interest.

Check the EU website HERE for the entire Consultation and the 111 contributions that were finally published. These include those of the European Federation of Honey Packers (FEEDM), clearly in favour of liberalising the honey market with Ukraine, and those of the German Professional Beekeepers Assn., which consider it to be very problematic and with serious effects on beekeeping in the European Union. Both positions should be known, as well as the range of positions of other sectors in the EU and in Ukraine.