EU Cereal Import Duties Are Back
Brussels is set to reintroduce import duties on cereals in an attempt to prevent any further falls in the price of grain to farmers.
Import duties were suspended at the beginning of January 2008 to boost grain supplies following the reduced global harvest of 2007. The price of feed wheat has more than halved since then following a massive global harvest and the general malaise in the commodities sector.
European Commissioner for Agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, said that customs duties on cereal imports will be re-introduced as a reaction to the cereals price fall.
It is understood that for low-grade milling and feed wheat, an annual tariff rate quota of 2,989,240t will apply, of which 572,000t are earmarked for imports from the United States and 38,853t for Canada.
The duty on wheat payable on imports under the quota is set at €12/t. For barley, an annual tariff rate quota of 306,215t is open, with €16/t duty payable.
Grain already in transit by the time the regulation is published in the next few days will still be allowed into the EU without import duties applied.
Import duties were suspended at the beginning of January 2008 to boost grain supplies following the reduced global harvest of 2007. The price of feed wheat has more than halved since then following a massive global harvest and the general malaise in the commodities sector.
European Commissioner for Agriculture, Mariann Fischer Boel, said that customs duties on cereal imports will be re-introduced as a reaction to the cereals price fall.
It is understood that for low-grade milling and feed wheat, an annual tariff rate quota of 2,989,240t will apply, of which 572,000t are earmarked for imports from the United States and 38,853t for Canada.
The duty on wheat payable on imports under the quota is set at €12/t. For barley, an annual tariff rate quota of 306,215t is open, with €16/t duty payable.
Grain already in transit by the time the regulation is published in the next few days will still be allowed into the EU without import duties applied.
