The EU is preparing to levy tariffs on grain imports from Russia and Belarus to placate farmers and some member states, the first restriction on food products since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Brussels has long resisted pressure from Poland and the Baltic states to restrict Russian and Belarusian imports, arguing that such a move could disrupt global food markets and hurt developing nations.

But according to people familiar with the plans, the European Commission is in coming days expected to impose a €95-per-tonne duty on cereals from Russia and Belarus. That would increase prices by at least 50 per cent, the people said, eradicating demand. Tariffs of 50 per cent would also be placed on oil seeds and derived products.

EU imports from Russia of the affected produce — cereals, oil seeds and their derivatives — reached a record of 4mn tonnes in 2023, 1 per cent of overall EU consumption.

Source:ft.com