The regular 10% import duty on fresh cucumbers and tomatoes are removed by Ukraine’s free trade agreement with Turkey. Nevertheless, there are anti-dumping duties currently applied to Turkish supplies. Angela Makhinova, a leading Ukrainian international trade lawyer and partner at Sayenko Kharenko, says that the existing measures will remain in force after the agreement takes effect.
Anti-dumping duties of 20.1–26.9% on fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from Turkey were introduced by Ukraine in July 2025 for five years. The reason was negative profitability for Ukrainian producers, because Turkish suppliers had sold the products at dumped prices.
Far from stopping Turkish imports, increased their cost and partly improved competitive conditions for Ukrainian greenhouse growers. For example, the average price of Turkish cucumbers in Ukraine was €1,100 per tonne in the first quarter of 2026. For the EU market it was €1,500 and €2,200 for Germany. Turkish tomatoes cost around €1,000 per tonne, about half the price for supplies to Romania.
The FTA eliminated the regular 10% duty, but the anti-dumping duties and VAT remain compulsory for importers. Due to this, Turkish suppliers would lower their prices in Ukraine and increase pressure on local greenhouse producers.
According to Ukrainian legislation and WTO rules, it is possible to review the anti-dumping measures one year after the duties their introduction. A request to reduce the duties can come from foreign producers and exporters. A suspension of the measures for nine to 12 months is also possible under specific conditions.
In case of a sharp increase of imports and a threat of serious injury to Ukrainian producers, there is a bilateral safeguard mechanism. It would effectively restore the regular tariff on a level lower than the current anti-dumping rates (10%which for cucumbers and tomatoes).
However, there is not a single import-growth threshold for triggering such a mechanism set by the legislation and the FTA. Therefore, Ukrainian producers need to monitor imports and market conditions and use the available trade-defence procedures where the relevant conditions are met.
As of 2025, Turkey exported to Ukraine $33.3 million worth of cucumbers, $81.7 million worth of fresh tomatoes, $23.7 million worth of other fresh vegetables and $30.7 million worth of grapes.
However, the agreement does not guarantee a fully symmetrical market access. A duty-free quota for Ukrainian tomatoes that Turkey provides is 3,000 tonnes per year. Meanwhile, volumes above the quota are discussed by most-favoured-nation regime. Also, the duty For Ukrainian cucumbers is reduced by 75%. Other 25% of the base rate are payable.
NH Logistics UKR has been offering IOR Importer of Record and EOR Exporter of Record services since 2001 and is a market leader in Ukraine and Eurasia, supporting many clients with their import/export shipments.
Source Link