Farming News - EU farm exports increase in face of Russian ban

EU farm exports increase in face of Russian ban


Data published by the EU Commission on Tuesday reveals a surprising uptick in farm exports.

Farm export data from August 2014 - when Russia introduced an embargo on food and drink imports from the EU and other Western powers in response to sanctions over the situation in the Ukraine - to July 2015 show that exports of EU produce to third countries grew over the period.

Since the export began, farmers protesting falling prices, especially in the livestock sector, have pointed to the impacts of the ban as one factor in the price drops. However, though the ban appears to be having a severe impact on the dairy sector, Tuesday’s paper on the embargo revealed that total EU  agri-food  exports  to  third  countries  increased  in  value  by  5.7% between August 2014 and July this year.

A steep rise in export sales during the first part of 2015 drove the increase, with a record month in March 2015, which saw agri-food exports rise to €12 billion (almost £7.8 bn). In July this year, exports were 8 percent higher than they were in July 2014.

Even so, Commission authors behind the report said, “Over  the  entire  period  since  the  embargo  started,  the  EU  agri-food  sector  has managed  to compensate the losses in export sales to Russia by increasing exports to other main destinations and alternative markets.”

In response to farm protests in Brussels at the beginning of September, the EU Commission promised to increase of the budget for promotional programmes for EU produce in 2016 and highlighted work being conducted to find new trading partners outside the bloc.   

Tuesday’s report shows increased exports to China (up 33%), the United States (the EU’s biggest trade partner, up 16%) and Egypt (26%) led the revival. Though total EU exports to Russia almost halved over the past year, exports to South Korea, UAE and Switzerland all increased.

The data released on Tuesday suggests that the value of EU bovine and poultry exports increased  by 23% and 5% respectively. Though the export value of butter rose slightly, cheese and milk powders were all way down over the last year. Fruit and vegetable exports, too, fell by 12 percent over the period.

After Russia introduced its restrictions last year, exports to the country dropped by 43 percent (plummeting by 97 percent for cheese and ceasing completely for milk powders). In July, EU executives strengthened economic sanctions on Russia, over alleged support for rebel forces in eastern Ukraine and Russian authorities announced that the import ban would continue for another year. The embargo is now expected to last until August 2016.