New EU-Ukraine agri trade quotas to be 'in between' current deal and wartime exemptions
BRUSSELS - The European Union and Ukraine are negotiating a new deal that will set import quotas on agricultural goods from Ukraine somewhere "in between" current levels and the temporary exemptions granted after Russia's 2022 invasion, the EU's agriculture commissioner told Reuters.
The EU temporarily waived duties and quotas on agricultural products in June 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion to help Ukraine compensate for the higher costs of its exports, after Russia threatened its traditional Black Sea shipping lanes.
Those tariff suspensions expired on Thursday. The EU and Ukraine reverted to the pre-war regime of trade quotas on Friday, while the two sides negotiate a new longer-term deal.
"What will be negotiated will be something in between the quotas under the existing DCFTA and the autonomous trade measures, the volumes that have been exported there," EU agriculture commissioner Christophe Hansen said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
The DCFTA refers to Ukraine and the EU's pre-war trade deal. The EU's "autonomous trade measures" temporarily suspended quotas on Ukrainian imports from 2022.
Ukraine's farm minister Vitaliy Koval told Reuters this week that Kyiv was pushing for an agreement on higher quotas than it had before the war. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Ukraine's drone attack injures one, sets homes on fire in Voronezh, Russia says
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox A woman sustained a leg injury from Ukraine's overnight drone attack on Voronezh that also resulted in several homes and utility buildings catching fire from falling drone debris, the governor of the southern Russian region said on Sunday. Air defence units destroyed about 15 Ukrainian drones over the region, the governor of Voronezh, Alexander Gusev, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "The threat of further drone attacks remains," Gusev said in the post early on Sunday. Reuters could not independently verify Gusev's report. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Both sides deny targeting civilians in their strike in the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. Kyiv says that its attacks inside Russia are aimed at destroying infrastructure key to Moscow's war efforts and are in response to Russia's relentless strikes on Ukraine. The Russian defence ministry said that its units destroyed 41 drones just before midnight on Saturday over Russian regions bordering Ukraine and over the waters of the Black Sea. REUTERS
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Federal agency opens probe into former Trump prosecutor Jack Smith
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith makes a statement to reporters after a grand jury returned an indictment of former U.S. President Donald Trump in the special counsel's investigation of efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, at Smith's offices in Washington, U.S., August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Wurm/File Photo A U.S. federal agency has opened a formal investigation into former Special Counsel Jack Smith, who oversaw two criminal probes into President Donald Trump following his first term in the White House. The Office of Special Counsel confirmed to Reuters that it was investigating whether Smith violated the Hatch Act, a law prohibiting federal employees from using their position for political activity. The decision follows a request for a probe by U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican. The OSC is an independent agency that probes the conduct of federal employees, but it does not have the authority to bring criminal charges. It is different from the type of Special Counsel's office previously overseen by Smith, who was appointed by the Department of Justice to pursue criminal cases. The OSC's investigation, which was first reported by the New York Post, is the latest in a series of actions taken by Trump and his allies against their perceived political enemies. Smith, who resigned from his post in January following Trump's election victory, could not immediately be reached for comment. Earlier this week Cotton accused Smith of aggressively pursuing his cases against Trump with the aim of hurting his presidential campaign, calling Smith "a political actor masquerading as a public official" in a series of posts on X. "That's why I've asked this unprecedented interference in the 2024 election be immediately investigated by OSC," Cotton wrote on X. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Despite bag checks and warnings, young partygoers continue to vape in clubs in Singapore Singapore Ong Beng Seng to plead guilty on Aug 4, more than 2 years after trip to Qatar with Iswaran Singapore LTA, Singapore bus operators reviewing Malaysia's request to start services from JB at 4am Singapore NDP 2025: Veteran Red Lion says each leap 'feels like 5km run' Opinion At UN's Wipo, Singaporean Daren Tang strives to create an equal music for haves and have-nots Singapore We're in the business of giving everyone a superpower: CEO of shared e-scooter provider Neuron Mobility Business Decoupling to save on tax? You may lose right to property if ties go awry World Pope Leo tells hundreds of thousands of young Catholics to build a better world A former war crimes prosecutor, Smith brought two criminal cases against Trump: one accusing him of illegally retaining classified material and another related to Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss, an effort that sparked the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Neither case went to trial, having been delayed and buffeted by a series of legal challenges, including a ruling by the Supreme Court's conservative majority that granted former presidents broad immunity from criminal prosecution. Smith dropped both cases after Trump won the election, citing a longstanding Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president, but issued a report in January saying the evidence he gathered would have been enough to convict Trump at trial. Trump denied wrongdoing and assailed the prosecutions as politically motivated attempts to damage his campaign. REUTERS
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Pope Leo tells hundreds of thousands of young Catholics to build a better world
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Pope Leo XIV attends a vigil for the Jubilee of Youth in Tor Vergata, in Rome, Italy, August 2, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi ROME - Hundreds of thousands of young people filled a vast field on the outskirts of Rome on Saturday to see Pope Leo, in the largest event yet of the new Catholic pontiff's tenure, as part of a special weekend aimed at energizing Catholic youth. Young people from more than 146 countries, some wearing colourful bandanas to ward off the hot summer sun, were pressed against fences in the Tor Vergata field as Leo toured the crowd in his white popemobile in late afternoon. The pope, smiling broadly, waved, offered blessings and occasionally caught small stuffed animals and national flags thrown by the youth as he passed by. "Dear young people ... my prayer for you is that you may persevere in faith, with joy and courage," Leo said in remarks later to the crowd. "Seek justice in order to build a more humane world," he said. "Serve the poor, and so bear witness to the good that we would always like to receive from our neighbours." Many of the youth attending the event with Leo spent all day waiting in the field in heat approaching 30 degrees Celsius (86°F) to see the pope. Organizers were using water cannons to help cool down people in the crowd. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $3b money laundering case: MinLaw names 6 law firms taken to task over involvement in property deals Singapore Police reopen access to all areas in Marina Bay after crowd congestion eases at NDP Preview area Singapore Opening of Woodlands Health has eased load on KTPH, sets standard for future hospitals: Ong Ye Kung Asia KTM plans new passenger rail service in Johor Bahru to manage higher footfall expected from RTS Singapore HSA investigating teen allegedly vaping on MRT train Asia 4 workers dead after falling into manhole in Japan Singapore New vehicular bridge connecting Punggol Central and Seletar Link to open on Aug 3 Singapore New S'pore jobs portal launched for North West District residents looking for work near home "For me, it is an incredible emotion because I had never been to an event like this before," said Maya Remorini, from Italy's Tuscany region. She said her group had arrived around 5 a.m. that morning. Many of the youth are expected to sleep in the field overnight, waiting for a second chance to see Leo on Sunday morning, when the pope is due to celebrate a Catholic mass. The weekend events are tied to the ongoing Catholic Holy Year, which the Vatican says has attracted some 17 million pilgrims to Rome since it started at the end of 2024. Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, was elected on May 8 by the world's cardinals to replace the late Pope Francis. REUTERS
