The EU states and the European Parliament on Monday, April 8 agreed tougher restrictions on some Ukraine farm imports, announced Belgium, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The agreement extends the duty-free access the bloc has given to Ukrainian agricultural goods since Russia's 2022 invasion, but sets caps for poultry, eggs, sugar, maize, goats and honey to average volumes seen between mid-2021 and end-2023. No cap was applied to wheat, which countries such as France and Poland had initially argued for.

The preliminary agreement still has to be formalised at a meeting of EU ambassadors late on Monday and by a European Parliament committee on Tuesday.

Diplomats had previously said the caps would trim around €240 million ($260 million) from the amount Ukranian farm products earn in the EU, compared with 2023.

The European Union has sought to maintain solidarity with Ukraine while listening to European farmers, who have been protesting low incomes partly blamed on Ukrainian goods they say are undercutting their markets.

The extension of duty-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural products is to kick in before the current exemption period runs out on June 5.

The European Parliament issued a statement saying that if there was "significant disruption to the EU market or the markets of one or more EU countries due to Ukrainian imports, for instance wheat, the regulation ensures that the (European) Commission can take swift action and impose any measures it deems necessary".

Lawmakers are eyeing June's European elections, with many, especially conservatives and those on the far-right, keen to show European farmers they are in their corner.