The President of Ukraine has issued a decree introducing procedures for application of special import duties on agricultural products imported into Ukraine. This Decree represents a tariff measure in accordance with the GATT/WTO principles for the purpose of protecting the domestic market.

Agricultural goods subject to tariff limitations fall under commodity groups 1-24 of the Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System (e.g. meat products, milk, butter, cheese, vegetables, fruits, coffee, tea, grains, oil, fats, cocoa goods, chocolate, tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, etc.) irrespective of the country of origin.

Special import duties on the above products may be imposed in the following cases:

  • where the volume of products imported into Ukraine during a calendar year exceeds thresholds specified by the Decree;
  • where the price of products imported to Ukraine under CIF terms is lower than the average prices for similar goods by at least 10%, during the previous calendar year.

The rates of special import duties should be defined on a case-by-case basis and apply in addition to the standard import duties payable upon customs clearance.

Special import duties will be introduced by the Cabinet of Ministers based on recommendation by the Governmental Import Control Commission. Requests for applying the special import duties can be made by the Ministry of Agriculture, other state bodies, unions of agricultural producers and individual business entities.

Special import duties on excisable goods (e.g. delicatessen food products) may be introduced by Parliament at the request of the Cabinet of Ministers. (Decree of the President of Ukraine On Implementation of Tariff Limitations of Agricultural Import According to Principles of GATT/WTO dated 13 May 1997).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

For further information contact Vladimir Didenko on +(380) 44 244 5478/9 or enter a text search 'Coopers & Lybrand' and 'Business Monitor'.