Due to the cancellation of customs declarations and confusion over grain origin verification, soybean and rapeseed exports in Ukraine have been completely suspended.

According to the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC), farmers are unwilling to pay a 10% duty, traders are counting losses from idle vessels, and processors have already lowered their purchase prices.

Following the introduction of a 10% export duty on soybeans and rapeseed, shipments of oilseeds from Ukrainian ports have effectively stopped.

The UAC has appealed to Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, urging the government to urgently resolve the situation.

Chairperson of the UAC, Andrii Dykun said that as of September 5, exports are fully blocked.

The UAC chairperson said: "Export is only possible with the payment of a 10% duty, yet vessels are waiting in ports because these batches contain mixed products – both from producers and from traders.

"The problem lies in the absence of a clear procedure for documentary confirmation of the origin of products grown directly by farmers or cooperatives.

"According to the law signed by the President of Ukraine on September 2, 2025, these producers should be exempt from paying the duty, but at the moment this is impossible to implement," Dykun added.

Anticipating the introduction of export duties, since August a significant number of traders have been buying rapeseed exclusively from producers.

However, on September 4 the customs authorities annulled all periodic customs declarations, including those from producers who were supposed to be exempt from duty.

According to the UAC, the lack of a mechanism for customs to verify the fact of a self-produced goods has resulted in producers being forced to pay the 10% duty until the origin is officially established.

The UAC claimed that domestic processors have "taken advantage" of the situation, by gradually lowering their purchase prices over the past week.

For producers, UAC believes that the inability to sell rapeseed for export could become "a reality" until legislation and mechanisms are adjusted.