Juice, Poultry Meat and Sugar: Which EU Quotas Ukraine Is Using Most Actively

Among the quotas administered on a First Come — First Served basis, the apple juice quota has been fully utilised, according to the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB).

Among the licensing quotas, high utilisation rates remain for wheat, poultry products and eggs. The annual wheat quota of 1.3 million tonnes has effectively been fully allocated. Under the main quota for fresh poultry meat, a total of around 70.0 thousand tonnes has been allocated, representing the entire volume available for the first three quarters of 2026. A similar situation is observed for eggs and egg products and for eggs in shell — 6.75 thousand tonnes each, or 100% of the volume available for January–September.

Among grains, the most notable dynamics over the past month were recorded for barley. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 122.7 thousand tonnes has been allocated, or 27.3% of the annual quota, compared with 57.7 thousand tonnes, or 12.8%, at the beginning of August. Thus, the volume increased by approximately 65.0 thousand tonnes over the month. For cereal flour, the total figure increased to 9.28 thousand tonnes, or 30.9% of the annual quota. At the same time, the corn quota remains almost unused — only 6.68 thousand tonnes out of 1 million tonnes, or 0.7%, has been allocated.

In the dairy category, the largest share is accounted for by skimmed milk powder and cream powder — a total of 8.57 thousand tonnes has been allocated, or 55.7% of the annual volume. For milk and condensed milk, the figure stands at 4.05 thousand tonnes, or 27.0%, while for butter and other milk fats it is 1.12 thousand tonnes, or 16.0%. Compared with the beginning of August, the largest increase in the dairy category was also recorded for skimmed milk powder and cream powder.

Under the First Come — First Served regime, quota utilisation continued to rise sharply in August and early September. For undenatured ethyl alcohol, 124.1 thousand tonnes out of 125 thousand tonnes has been utilised, or 99.3%, leaving less than 1 thousand tonnes available.

Compared with the beginning of August, the ethyl alcohol quota was utilised particularly rapidly: the figure increased from 77.7% to 99.3% by early September. For sweet corn, utilisation rose from 75.3% to 95.1%, for sugar from 68.1% to 83.9%, for tomatoes from 59.9% to 73.0%, and for honey from 64.4% to 74.5%.

«The updated data show that for a number of Ukrainian agri-food products, tariff quotas are already effectively limiting opportunities for duty-free supplies to the EU. This primarily concerns apple juice, ethyl alcohol and sweet corn. At the same time, significant unused quota potential remains for certain grain, meat and dairy products,» UCAB explained.

The association also reminded that the two administration mechanisms should be distinguished: for First Come — First Served quotas, the figures reflect the actual customs utilisation of the quota, while for licensing quotas they refer to volumes allocated under import licences.