On April 14, 2014, the European Council approved a proposal to remove import duties on Ukrainian exports to the EU for a certain group of goods.

EU import duties on the following groups of goods exported by Kernel would be amended:

– Unrefined sunflower oil: import duty would be cut from 2.9% to 0%.
– Refined sunflower oil (bottled or sold in bulk): import duty would be cut from 6.1% to 0%.

The proposed changes also stipulate that the EU will establish new zero-duty import quotas for grain originating from Ukraine. Specifically, in addition to the existing reduced-duty import quotas for wheat and barley originating from any country in the total annual amount of 2.7 million tons, a specific zero-duty quota for wheat and barley originating from Ukraine would be set in the amount of total 1.2 million tons (with a non-quota import duty of EUR 93-95/t).

The regulation is expected to take effect on April 23, 2014 the day following its scheduled publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, and to be last until a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and EU becomes effective on or before November 1, 2014.