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The EU is preparing to levy tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus to placate farmers and some member states, the first restriction on food products since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Brussels has long resisted pressure from Poland and the Baltic states to restrict Russian and Belarusian imports, arguing that such a move could disrupt global food markets and hurt developing nations.
But according to people familiar with the plans, the European Commission is in coming days expected to impose a €95-per-tonne duty on cereals from Russia and Belarus. That would increase prices by at least 50 per cent, the people said, eradicating demand. Tariffs of 50 per cent would also be placed on oil seeds and derived products.
EU imports from Russia of the affected produce — cereals, oil seeds and their derivatives — reached a record of 4mn tonnes in 2023, 1 per cent of overall EU consumption.
Latvia in February imposed a unilateral ban on many food imports from Russia and Belarus, while Lithuania announced strict inspections of cargoes.
Having previously called Russian grain exports to Poland “negligible”, EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski changed tack last week during a visit to his native Poland, saying: “When Russia uses food as a weapon, we must react.”
In Poland farmers have been mounting protests over cheaper imports from Ukraine — and increasingly Russia — undermining the market for domestic grain.
The protests, which have included border blockades with Ukraine, have become an irritant in relations between Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This month, Tusk said that Latvia had understandably imposed its own ban on Russian food exports — and warned that Poland could follow suit. But he said he would “prefer that we decide together, as the whole EU, on sanctions on Russia and Belarus on food and agricultural products”.
On Friday commission president Ursula von der Leyen told Tusk she was “evaluating the possibility of introducing restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Russia”.
Trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis is likely to opt for tariffs rather than sanctions since it would not require unanimous approval from capitals, as is the case with sanctions. The measure would allow the produce to transit the EU en route to Africa and Asia.
Moscow has already blamed the EU for causing disruption on the global food market with its sanctions on Russian banks and energy companies, winning sympathy from some developing countries.
EU diplomats maintained it was Russia’s attempted blockade of the Black Sea and attacks on Ukrainian grain silos that throttled supplies.
The EU produces more than 300mn tonnes of cereals and oilseeds annually and is a net exporter of the former so it has no need for Russian and Belarusian imports.
An EU official noted that cereal prices were at four-year lows while Russia was “very competitive on cereal markets and is putting significant pressure”.
The duty would be set at the maximum allowed under WTO rules, the people said. Russia could retaliate but it has already banned most EU food imports and many European companies in the sector have pulled out of the country in the past years.
The commission declined to comment.
Additional reporting by Alice Hancock in Brussels
