On 22 March, the European Commission proposed to increase the tariffs on imports into the EU of cereals, oilseeds, and derived products (‘grain products’) from Belarus, including wheat, maize, and sunflower meal. This increase is also proposed to be applied against Russia.
These measures primarily aim to prevent Russia from using revenues from exports to the EU – of both Russian and illegally appropriated Ukrainian grain products – to fund its war of aggression against Ukraine. They also aim to tackle Russian exports of illegally appropriated grain produced in the territories of Ukraine and to mitigate the growing risk to the EU markets and farmers.
At the same time, the increased tariffs would also apply to Belarus in light of the country’s close political and economic ties to Russia.
“Moreover, by including Belarus in the new measure, the EU will prevent Russia from using Belarus to circumvent the new tariffs and channel its goods onto the EU market,” says a press release by the European Commission.
These tariffs, while high enough to suppress such imports into the EU in practice, would not affect exports to third countries.
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