Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade
(Nigel Huddlestone): In May 2022 the United Kingdom led the world
in being the first country to fully liberalise its trade with
Ukraine, by removing all remaining tariffs under the UK-Ukraine
Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement. This
set an ambitious precedent, which I am pleased to say has been
followed by similar initiatives from the European Union, Canada
and other partners.
Russia’s unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine has impacted
Ukraine’s ability to export goods and disrupted their usual
supply chains and transport routes. This is why it was so
important that the UK acted when it did to liberalise remaining
tariffs and provide much needed support to Ukrainian businesses.
Whilst overall imports to the UK from Ukraine have decreased
(with goods imports down almost 50% or £410m in the 12 months to
the end of November 2022, compared to the previous year), imports
of barley and poultry have benefited from our liberalisation
package and are higher than they would otherwise have been. This
demonstrates the benefit of the temporary tariff liberalisation
to Ukrainian exporters.
In late 2022 President Zelenskyy requested that the temporary
tariff liberalisation be extended. This Government remains as
committed as ever to supporting Ukraine in their hour of need and
so I can confirm our intention to deliver on this request. My
Department will work with His Majesty’s Treasury in due course to
lay the necessary statutory instrument to extend the temporary
tariff liberalisation to early 2024. The liberalisation of all
tariffs for imports from Ukraine will continue to be applied to
the whole of the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies.
As the Prime Minister has made clear, the United Kingdom will
continue to do everything in its power to support Ukraine’s fight
against Putin’s brutal invasion and ensure its long-term security
and prosperity
