The European Union must allow Ukrainian food producers long-term access to EU markets, rather than simply extending measures year after year, leaving them at the mercy of political pressure, a senior Ukrainian official said today.

Ukraine wants tariffs and quotas on EU agricultural imports to be lifted permanently by updating its trade agreement with the EU, or at least extending the current suspension for three years, said Markijan Dmitrasevic, deputy minister of agricultural policy and food.

“We need something more convenient for planning,” he told Reuters in an interview during a trip to Brussels. “A lot of resources go into these conversations every year. Then we have new demands, new protests in the EU and its member states”.

Ukrainian food exporters have faced a wave of protests, including blockades at border crossings by EU farmers in recent months, with many expressing anger at what they see as unfair competition from cheaper Ukrainian imports.

The European Commission has proposed that import duties and quotas on Ukrainian agricultural products – initially suspended in 2022 after the Russian invasion hit transport through the Black Sea – be lifted for another year until June 2025.

The proposal introduces an “emergency brake” on poultry, eggs and sugar, allowing for tariffs if imports exceed average levels in 2022 and 2023.

The majority of EU governments have backed the proposal but the situation among MPs is not clear. A parliamentary committee is expected to vote on the proposal on Thursday, but with a number of possible amendments. These include expanding the list of products that can be subject to an “emergency brake” as well as adding 2021 as a reference year, before the Russian invasion when Ukrainian exports to the EU were limited by tariffs and quotas.

“That won’t work for us,” Dmitrasevic said.

He said Ukrainian agricultural production is not hurting EU markets. Ukrainian sugar imported into the EU accounts for less than 3% of consumption, the Ukrainian official said, and supermarket prices are still above pre-war levels flat.