According to latest figures from Eurostat, updated to June, EU imports of fresh vegetables from non-EU countries stood at 1.3 million tons in the first half of 2015, 5% less than in the same period last year, and Morocco Israel and Egypt were the leading suppliers.
The EU imported 428,396 tons of vegetables from Morocco in the first half of 2015, 5% less than in the same period of 2014. The main vegetable imports from this country were of tomatoes with 228,379 tons (-7%), which accounts for 81% of all non-EU imports of tomatoes, and green beans with 81,456 tons (-2%).
Imports from Israel stood at 229,991 tons, 2% more than in the first half of 2014. The main imports were of potato, with 137,732 tons (-4%), and carrots and turnips with 44,706 tonnes (+34 %).
Community imports from Egypt stood at 228,126 tons (+12%). Potato imports amounted to 150,886 tons, mainly of the early variety, which grew by 26%. Onion imports were also important and stood at 54,533 tons.
The main imported vegetables were the potatoes, tomatoes and onions. Potato imports totalled 296,645 tons (+7%), tomato imports amounted to 281,452 tons (-11%), and onion imports totalled 230,124 tons (-15%).
According to FEPEX, when analysing the evolution of Community imports of vegetables from third countries, one must take into consideration the adverse weather conditions that affected production in countries such as Morocco, on the other hand, the export orientation of these countries to the Russian market because of the ban on fruit and vegetable imports from the EU since August 2014.
