EU poultry market situation in 2023

Subject: EU poultry market situation in 2023

Since trade with Ukraine was liberalised, cheap Ukrainian poultry meat has been entering the European Union. In 2022, imports from Ukraine amounted to 166 000 tonnes against 192 000 tonnes in 2021, which was an increase of 61% compared to the previous year, and it should be borne in mind that the borders were opened in June 2022. In the first 17 weeks of 2023, poultry meat imports from Ukraine totalled 77 797 tonnes, an increase of 192% on the same period in the previous year. If this rate of increase is maintained, we can expect imports across the whole of 2023 to exceed 250 000 tonnes. This is almost three times more than the 2021 quotas for Ukrainian poultry meat.

In light of the above:

1. Is the Commission monitoring the situation on the European poultry market?

2. What action is the Commission taking to stabilise the situation on this market and are there plans to activate the safeguard clauses for poultry meat?

Submitted: 30.5.2023

Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission (19 July 2023)

The Commission has been closely monitoring the imports of poultry meat from Ukraine since the implementation of the Autonomous Trade Measures (ATMs) for Ukraine (1).

The monitoring until now has shown significantly higher imports from Ukraine than in the previous years when the tariff rate quotas under the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area were implemented.

However, those imports have not destabilised the EU market, which has been characterised by a tight domestic supply, notably due to outbreaks of the highly pathogenic avian influenza and high input costs. Prices on the EU market are at historically high levels.

The regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council for Autonomous Trade Measures for Ukraine currently in force (2) includes an easier and faster procedure for safeguard investigations with more robust and regular monitoring and reporting to Member States, lower trigger threshold and shorter assessment deadline.

The Commission stands ready to adopt the safeguard measures if the conditions for their introduction are fulfilled.

1 ∙ ⸱ Regulation (EU) 2022/870 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2022 on temporary trade-liberalisation measures supplementing trade

concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part, OJ L152 of 3.6.2022. 2 ∙ ⸱ Regulation (EU) 2023/1077 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on temporary trade-liberalisation measures supplementing trade

concessions applicable to Ukrainian products under the Association Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and their Member States, of the one part, and Ukraine, of the other part, OJ L144 of 5.6.2023.