The Romanian government wants to introduce minimum selling prices for fruit and vegetables imported from countries outside the European Union. It would be a safeguard measure to protect domestic producers, especially against goods from Turkey, as Romanian growers are unable to compete with the low prices of imported products.
With this, the authorities aim to prevent the market from receiving dumped products, as is currently the case. Protective measures are also said to be necessary because, in the countries of origin, the products are heavily subsidised by the state through various channels.
In the coming weeks, the institution must determine the list of 10 fruits and vegetables that may have a fixed price. The guarantees will be paid by companies with every import batch and are to be calculated based on the declared value of the goods.
Romania is a country with high potential for agricultural production, although last year food imports have exceeded exports for the second year in a row.
Just last year, half of the tomatoes and cucumbers imported arrived from countries outside the European Union. It is the same case for a quarter of the apples in store shelves.
In any case, it is believed that the introduction of minimum prices can only partially solve the problem. Food imports last year stood at 5.8 billion Euro; of this amount, only 1.1 billion came from non-EU countries. The rest are imports from European Union countries to which Romania cannot introduce safeguards, as these would be incompatible with the free movement of goods.
