The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) has published the volumes of licences issued for November 2026 for certain quota-limited dairy products under the existing tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), revised in October 2025, reports the Expert and Analytical Service of the Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (UDEU).
All applications for licences to supply dairy products to the European Union (EU) were granted in full, as the quotas remain open.
Key points:
- quota 09.4600 (liquid / condensed milk and cream): a 2026 record of 1,170 t in licences, 40.2% of the annual quota used;
- quota 09.4601 (skim milk powder): the lowest volume of 2026 at just 366 t, 72.5% of the annual quota used;
- quota 09.4602 (butter): negligible volumes for a third month in a row, with use not exceeding 16.2%.
Quota 09.4600: milk and cream
Under quota 09.4600 — liquid / condensed milk and cream — licences were issued for 1,170 t, a 2026 record and 43.6% more than in the previous month (September).
Licence volumes for supplying liquid / condensed milk and cream to the EU have risen for three consecutive months, from 570 t in August to 1,170 t in October — more than doubling.
In total, licences for more than 6,000 t have been obtained under quota 09.4600 in 2026, or 40.2% of the annual quota.
Quota 09.4601: skim milk powder
By contrast, licences under quota 09.4601 — skim milk powder (SMP) — were the lowest of 2026, at just 366 t. This contrasts sharply with September (2,233 t) and August (1,374 t) and reflects reduced export capacity of Ukrainian dairy processors for this product after significant stock clearance in previous months.
Thus, despite a significant rise in EU SMP prices (above €3,500), licence applications fell sharply in October, leaving Ukrainian processors effectively unable to take advantage of favourable prices on the EU SMP market.
In total, licences for almost 11,200 t have been obtained under quota 09.4601 in 2026, or 72.5% of the annual quota.
Quota 09.4602: butter
The use of quota 09.4602 — butter — reflects the current state of the global butter market, and the EU market in particular, in 2026.
In the second half of 2026, EU butter prices remain low and have recently fallen further (below €4,000), making Ukrainian butter supplies to the EU effectively uneconomic.
As a result, applications and licences under quota 09.4602 have remained negligible for a third month in a row: 5.5 t in August, 2.4 t in September and 2.0 t in October. The last significant volume was 202 t in July, and over the past six months licences under quota 09.4602 have totalled just 214 t (against an annual quota of 7,000 t).
Consequently, Ukraine’s use of quota 09.4602 has not exceeded 16.2% for the fourth month in a row and is unlikely to rise significantly above that level in 2026.
Source: Union of Dairy Enterprises of Ukraine (UDEU Analytics)
