Considerations on COM(2025)34 - Modification of customs duties applicable to imports of certain goods from or exported directly or indirectly from Russia and Belarus - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2025)34 - Modification of customs duties applicable to imports of certain goods from or exported directly or indirectly from Russia and ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2025)34  |
| date | January 28, 2025 |
(2) The imports of the fertilisers covered by this Regulation (‘the concerned fertilisers’) currently reflect a situation of economic dependency on the Russian Federation. Moreover, the imports of the concerned agricultural goods could create a similar and additional economic dependency on the Russian Federation, which should in the present circumstances be prevented and reduced in order to protect the Union’s markets and safeguard the Union’s food security.
(3) The Union’s erga omnes common customs duties are the currently applied most-favoured-nation tariffs on imports of the concerned agricultural goods and fertilisers. They vary greatly at present. Depending on the good, some tariffs are either set at zero or are very low, while other tariffs are so high that no trade takes place.
(4) The continued importation of the agricultural goods and fertilisers covered by this Regulation from the Russian Federation under current conditions could make the Union vulnerable to coercive actions by the Russian Federation. In particular, a potential increase in the importation of the concerned goods from the Russian Federation could disrupt the Union’s market and negatively impact the Union’s producers. It is therefore necessary to take appropriate tariff measures in order to address the Union’s current and potential economic dependency on imports of those goods from the Russian Federation. This should be done by ending the current situation where they enter the Union market on terms that are as favourable as those applied to goods from other origins that receive most-favoured-nation treatment.
(5) At present, imports of the concerned fertilisers from the Russian Federation are already increasing and could increase further and quickly if additional Russian production is re-oriented towards the Union. Such potential increased imports from the Russian Federation would disrupt the Union’s market for those goods and harm the Union’s nitrogen fertilisers producers, who are already facing difficulties in competing with imports from the Russian Federation because gas prices in the Union remain high. The long-term survival of the Union’s nitrogen fertiliser industry is of crucial importance for the Union’s food security because the Union’s agricultural sector needs these fertilisers in order to produce food. Addressing the growing dependency on imports of the concerned fertilisers from the Russian Federation and preserving the viability of an autonomous Union nitrogen fertiliser industry is therefore vital to ensuring and maintaining the Union’s food security. In order to prevent a future dependency on agricultural goods imports from the Russian Federation, it is also necessary to adjust the tariff levels for these products.
(6) The tariff measures should also be taken in respect of the Republic of Belarus in order to prevent potential imports to the Union from the Russian Federation from being diverted through the Republic of Belarus, given its close political and economic ties with the Russian Federation. This could happen if the Union’s tariffs on imports of goods from the Republic of Belarus were to remain unchanged.
(7) Imports of the concerned agricultural goods and fertilisers that originate in or are exported directly or indirectly from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus should therefore be subject to higher customs duties than imports from other third countries.
(8) Imports from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus should not benefit from any lower tariffs under the Union’s tariff rate quotas, on terms of most-favoured-nation treatment. The reduced rates set out in the Union’s tariff rate quotas for the goods listed in the Annexes I and II to this Regulation should therefore not apply to goods originating in or exported directly or indirectly from the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus to the Union.
(9) The envisaged increase in customs duties is not expected to negatively affect global food security because the increase in tariffs applies only to imports into the Union and does not affect goods concerned Regulation if they are only transiting through the Union’s territory to third countries of final destination. To the contrary, the envisaged increase in Union import duties may increase the exportation of those goods to third countries and increase the availability of supplies there.
(10) At the same time, fertilisers play a significant role for the food security as well as for the financial stability of the farmers in the Union. It is therefore necessary to ensure predictable and sufficient access to fertilisers, at affordable price levels for Union farmers, which should in turn contribute to the stabilisation of agricultural markets. During a transitional period, the proposed measure would stimulate stepping up the Union production and allow for reinforcing alternative sources of supply from other international partners, minimising the risk that fertilisers prices for Union farmers increase substantially. To this end, the Commission should monitor closely the evolution of fertiliser prices on the Union market. Should fertiliser prices substantially increase, the Commission should assess the situation and take all appropriate actions to remedy such surge.
(11) The envisaged increase in customs duties is consistent with the Union’s external action in other areas, as set out in Article 21(3) of the Treaty on European Union. The state of relations between the Union and the Russian Federation has greatly deteriorated in recent years and particularly since 2022. This is due to the Russian Federation’s blatant disregard for international law and, in particular, its unprovoked and unjustified military aggression and full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since July 2014, the Union has progressively imposed restrictive measures on trade with the Russian Federation in response to the Russian Federation’s actions vis-à-vis Ukraine.
(12) The Russian Federation is a Member of the World Trade Organization. However, the Union is currently allowed, by virtue of the exceptions that apply under the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, and in particular Article XXI of the GATT 1994 (security exceptions), to disregard the obligation to accord to goods imported from the Russian Federation the advantages granted to like similar products imported from other countries (most-favoured-nation treatment) and is not prevented from charging import duties higher than those contained in the Union’s schedule of tariff commitments on trade in goods, if the Union considers such measures to be necessary in order to protect the Union’s essential security interests.
(13) The situation between the Union and the Republic of Belarus has also deteriorated in recent years due to the regime’s disregard for international law, fundamental freedoms and human rights, as well as its support for the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since October 2020, the Union has progressively imposed restrictive measures on trade with the Republic of Belarus.
(14) The Republic of Belarus is not a Member of the World Trade Organization. The Union is therefore not obliged, by virtue of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, to accord to goods from the Republic of Belarus most-favoured-nation treatment and other treatment in line with that Agreement. In addition, existing trade agreements allow actions justified on the basis of applicable exception clauses, in particular security exceptions.
(15) This Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives pursued in accordance with Article 5(4) of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, it is necessary and appropriate to lay down rules increasing tariffs on those goods with immediate effect, firstly in order to achieve the basic objective of ensuring that the concerned agricultural goods and fertilisers that originate in or are exported directly or indirectly from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus do not disturb the Union’s market for those goods; and secondly in order to implement the Common Commercial Policy and reduce the Union’s imports of these goods and fertilisers from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus in response to concerns that such imports could negatively affect the Union’s internal market and impair the Union’s food security,