EU agrees tariffs on Russian, Belarusian grain imports from July
Al Jazeera
The bloc says the charges on grain and other farm products will halt imports of these goods.
European Union trade ministers have agreed to impose prohibitive tariffs on grain and other agricultural products from Russia and Belarus from July 1.
The tariffs will be 95 euros ($102.76) per tonne for cereals and 50 percent of their value for oilseeds. Tariffs will also apply to beet-pulp pellets and dried peas. The ministers’ decision on Thursday follows a proposal from the European Commission on March 22.
The announcement of the new tariffs quickly drew Russian disapproval.
“The new messages from the EU will yet have to be analysed, but their ideology is clear – they want to squeeze Russia out of everything,” Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters at a weekly briefing.
Vincent Van Peteghem, the finance minister of Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said the new tariffs were intended to stop imports of grain from Russia and Belarus into the EU “in practice”.
