Free Trade with Türkiye: What Advantages Ukrainian Agricultural Exporters Gain

This was reported by the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food.

It is noted that the agreement establishes an asymmetric schedule for the introduction of tariff preferences. For Ukrainian goods on the Turkish market, they took effect on 1 October 2026, while for Turkish products in Ukraine they will apply from 1 January 2027. Thus, Ukrainian businesses receive a three-month advantage to make use of the new conditions for access to the Turkish market before the corresponding preferences for Turkish imports come into effect.

Overall, Türkiye is eliminating import duties on 10,337 tariff lines — around 95% of the nomenclature of Ukrainian exports. For some other goods, tariff quotas or reduced duty rates will apply.

The ministry notes that, given the high level of tariff protection in certain segments of the Turkish agricultural market, where import duty rates can reach 30–225%, the new conditions create additional opportunities for Ukrainian producers and processors. At the same time, specific preferences depend on the tariff line and the market access conditions provided for under the agreement.

The main conditions for access of Ukrainian agricultural products to the Turkish market are:

• Duty-free access without quotas: zero import duty rates are provided for a number of goods, including processed oilseed and grain products — meal, oilcake, bran and feed concentrates, soybeans, rapeseed, pulses (peas, chickpeas, lentils and beans), as well as margarine, starch, gluten, baby food, confectionery products and breeding material.
• Preferential conditions for other goods: 1,348 agricultural tariff lines are covered by duty-free or preferential tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), as well as partial reductions in basic duty rates by 20–50%. These include wheat flour, butter, cheeses, milk powder, beef, poultry meat, eggs, honey, sugar, tomato paste and juices.
• Ukraine’s commitments: the agreement provides for a duty-free tariff quota of 50 thousand tonnes per year for exports of sunflower seeds to Türkiye. According to the information provided, the quota is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Shipments exceeding the quota remain subject to Ukraine’s standard export duty of 10%.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy named Ukraine’s integration into the Pan-Euro-Med (PEM) system as an important advantage of the agreement, as it expands opportunities for developing processing. Ukrainian producers will be able to use Turkish raw materials to manufacture finished products and export them to EU countries duty-free, provided that the rules of origin are complied with and origin is confirmed by an EUR.1 certificate.

Last year, Ukraine exported 7.9 million tonnes of agricultural products to Türkiye worth more than $2.2 billion. This accounted for 9.8% of Ukraine’s total agricultural exports and placed Türkiye first among importers of Ukrainian agricultural products. Ukraine’s positive trade balance amounted to $1.6 billion.