IPN correspondence: Despite the free trade with the European Union, some of the Moldovan agri-food producers tend to export their products to the traditional markets, in the Commonwealth of Independent States. These are characterized by a high level of instability and by much lower prices. However, other Moldovan producers fully benefit from the free access to the EU market. Paradoxically, even if the producers declared that the Association Agreement between Moldova and the EU stipulates high quotas for the export of Moldovan products, now they do not use a large part of these quotas. At the same time, the authorities call on the producers to try and conquer the European markets because, if they meet the quality requirements set by the EU, they will be able to also enter other, less traditional markets.
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EU market cannot be compared with that of the CIS
Dried fruit producer Dumitru Vicol has told IPN that he exports 90% of his production to the EU market, which cannot be compared with that of the EU. “Things go well. We do not face problems. We export in normal conditions. We didn’t export much to the CIS market, but it is incomparable. The CIS market is much smaller than that of the EU,” said the producer.
According to him, the purchase capacity in the CIS is much lower. Trade there is affected by the complications that appear regularly following the bans imposed by Russia. The countries are smaller and with reduced consumption, like Belarus, or are too far, like Kazakhstan. The CIS area is generally not attractive for the producer. He sells the dried fruit mainly in the EU, Canada and the United States. In the European community, the Moldovan dried fruit are in demand primarily in Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries.
Moldovan grains are in great demand in EU
The Moldovan grain exports exceeded a lot the quotas stipulated in the Association Agreement with the EU. The export quota for wheat is 75,000 tonnes, but there were exported almost 112,000 tonnes to the value of over US$19 million. The quota for barley was 70,000 tonnes, but the exports totaled over 90,000 tonnes to the value of almost US$14 million. The quota for corn was 130,000 tonnes, but the Moldovan producers exported over 205,000 tonnes of over US$31 million.
In this connection, the European Commission allowed to exceed the export quotas to the EU set in the Association Agreement for a number of Moldovan products, mainly grains, including wheat, barley and processed grains, and flower and pellets.
Only 2% of export quota for apples used
The export quotas for fruit and vegetables weren’t fully used yet. In 2015, there were exported 9,125 tonnes of table grapes (over 90% of the quota), 6,200 tonnes of plums (over 60% of the quota) and 725 tonnes of apples (2% of the quota). The walnut kernel, fruit juices, dried fruit, seeds and sunflower oil are most popular in the EU.
Iurie Fala, executive director of the Association “Moldova Fruct” stated for IPN that the export of apples to the European Union faces a number of impediments. Poland is a large apple producer in the EU and the producers there are also affected by the Russian bans, but there are also a number of rules that the Moldovan producers find inconvenient. One of the rules is the obligation to leave in the customs post, when they export to the EU, a sum of €3,000 to €7,000 for a truck of apples as a guarantee. Such rules, plus the lack of contacts and information, often discourages the national apple producers, especially because the apples grown in Moldova are in greater demand in the CIS states.
According to Iurie Fala, now there is a surplus of apples on the EU market following the ban imposed by Russia on the import of EU products. The Polish producers, which earlier adjusted themselves to the requirements on the Russian market, grow mainly sorts of apples that are popular with the Russians, as the producers in Moldova did. This hampers the access of the Moldovan apples to the European market.
Game rules on EU market are transparent, clear and stable
Sergiu Tirigan, division head at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, warns the agricultural producers about the high level of instability on the CIS market. This is dangerous for the producers that do not try to diversify the export destinations and do not look for more commercial partners. As to the direct benefits for the producers, the specialist enumerated first of all the access to a much larger market, of over 500 million consumers, and the transparent, clear and stable rules on this market. The adjustment of the production to the EU requirements, which are equal or even higher than the international standards, is another important aspect as the producers meeting these standards can conquer new markets.
The wine, walnut kernel, dried fruit and bee honey are products that can be exported to the EU in unlimited quantities, outside export quotas. Moldova cannot yet export products of animal origin to the EU, except for natural bee honey, powdered eggs and caviar. Steps are being taken to obtain the status of third country that can export poultry and eggs. The EU delegated an audit mission to examine Moldova’s animal-breeding sector. When the mission presents its report, the authorities will take the measures required to export products of animal origin.
Mariana Galben, IPN
