Polish exports to EU set to double
forecasting that the EU market will be flooded with Polish made
food and beverage items during the course of the next two to three
months.
The estimates have been fuelled by official figures released this week by the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Food Economy, which indicate that food exports to the EU rose by 44 per cent in 2003, compared to 2002. The Ministry also said that 2002's €300 million trade deficit was turned into a €200 million surplus in 2003.
With accession less than one month away, estimates are that as trade barriers are lifted on food and beverage items, domestic food producers are set to double export volumes to the EU by 2007.
Poland's food and beverage industry has undergone a tough transition to ready it for enlargement. In particular, the meat sector has struggled to meet heightened EU standards on safety and hygiene and so far an estimated 300 slaughter houses have had to be closed.
However, Poland's Europe Minister Danuta Huebener recently announced that the country's food and beverage industry had made significant inroads in the last couple of months and that the vast majority of companies were well on course to meet regulations by the end of April.
Being by far the largest economy of the ten accession states, a great deal of focus has been placed on Poland and its anticipated impact on the EU economy as a whole. And with the EU's population expected to climb from 382 million to 456 million, the opportunities that such a move will bring to Poland's food and beverage sector are hard to underestimate.
The main advantage that Polish producers are expected to have is their competitiveness on price, which is largely due to lower production and overhead costs. Many analysts believe that the dairy market will be one of the primary sectors to reap the benefits, with milk and other dairy supplies to neighbouring Germany giving rise to estimates that production output will double by the end of this year.
