Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has welcomed the European Commission’s proposal on Friday to impose maximum tariffs on EU imports of Russian and Belarusian grain, but also urged the Commission to introduce import tariffs on other agricultural products as well.
“I welcome the Commission’s proposals, which are certainly timely, but I would urge it not to stop there, to go one step further and introduce tariffs on other agricultural products,” Nausėda told reporters in Brussels on Friday.
“We have a very clear case of Russia deliberately attacking us with cheap grain in an attempt to destabilise our agricultural product market, to cause discontent among farmers, to create political instability. Of course, we must take steps to prevent this,” the president said.
Earlier in the day, the European Commission proposed increasing the tariffs on imports into the EU of cereals, oilseeds, and grain products from Russia and Belarus, including wheat, maize, and sunflower meal.
Under the WTO rules, agricultural exports from Russia have so far been exempted from any EU import duties.
Effective import ban
The proposed import duties on Russian and Belarusian grain would effectively mean a ban on their import into the bloc, Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Kęstutis Navickas said on Friday.
“Tariffs are one of the instruments used to control trade flows. Since the consensus is to proceed through tariff policy, it will achieve the same result,” he told BNS.
“This is a long-awaited and important measure. The introduction of the tariffs should significantly change the trade regime with Russian in such a way as to minimise the import of Russian grain and oilseeds into the EU,” he said.
EU Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis has also said the measure will bar Russian grain from the EU market.
According to Dombrovskis, the EU is revoking “most-favoured-nation preferences” for Russia. Also, the bloc can apply higher import tariffs under the World Trade Organization's rules.
“We are suggesting to put what is called WTO ‘bound rates’ on those products from Russia and Belarus. Basically, those rates are a prohibitive level, effectively making sure that there is not going to be imports of Russian and Belarusian grains in the EU,” the commissioner told Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian journalists.
“Those tariffs will de facto prevent imports of Russian and Belorussian products into the EU market, because it will be commercially not viable,” he added.
According to Dombrovskis, import tariffs will depend on the specific product. For example, common wheat and durum wheat would be subject to a duty of 95 euros and 148 euros per ton, respectively, and oilseeds to a 50-percent import tariff.
Easing tensions over Ukrainian imports
The Commission’s proposal comes after Lithuania, along with Latvia, Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic, on Wednesday urged the EU’s executive body to impose a full ban on grain imports from Russia and Belarus. The joint appeal by the five countries’ agriculture ministers was initiated by Lithuania.
Dombrovskis expects that the new restrictions will alleviate tensions over grain entering the EU from Ukraine.
“It’s difficult to say how exactly the market will react to this, but we also think that it will ease [...] tensions concerning also Ukrainian imports,” he said.
However, the Commission says that this measure will not affect the transit of Russian and Belarussian grain products to third countries.
The European Council is expected to decide on the Commission’s proposal on Friday. Dombrovskis said there is political will among EU countries to restrict Russian agricultural product imports into the bloc.
According to the Commission’s data, 4.8 million tons of grain, worth 1.5 billion euros, was imported into the EU from Russia and Belarus last year.
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