Romania: Meat, wine and honey export to China

25.10.2012. The loss cased by drought in a majority of agricultural sectors is around 20 per cent, but there have also been cultures where production decreased by as much as 60 per cent, while other ones were not affected at all, said Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin at the Mediafax conference ‘Talks about Brewing&Agriculture’.

According to the minister, the quality of wine this year is better than last year, even if production did suffer a minor correction compared to 2011. Corn production this year amounts to about 4.7 M tons, less by 60 per cent compared to the nearly 11.7 M tons in 2011. Agriculture holds a weight of 6-7 per cent in Romania’s GDP. The representatives of all branches of agriculture have complaint to the ministry about money shortages after learning that the new budget revision would bring additional funds, Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin also said. The minister also mentioned the issue of hypermarket food and assured that had of it is locally produced, but admitted that the share of Romanian food products retailed by hypermarkets should still grow. ‘In this department, Romania <still has work to do>, because there are countries where locally produced food represent up to 80 per cent of hypermarket retail. The Ministry of Agriculture also plans to foster barley and hop production by increasing per-hectare payments, the minister said. E noted that beer is a sector free of tax evasion. 98 per cent of the beer consumed in Romania is locally produced. ‘Things are not great with the main beer ingredients – barley and hop.–The area covered by these two crops has constantly decreased in the last few years’, said the minister. While in 1990, Romania had almost 2,700 hectares covered by hop crops, at present, the area is of just 240 hectares. Areas cultivated with barley have also reduced lately. ’If only 10 per cent of the hop needed or brewing beet is cultivated in Romania, in the case of barley almost 50 per cent of the raw material is local’, Daniel Constantin added.

Meat, wine and honey export to China

Romania could sign a memorandum with China for the export of livestock, meat, wine, honey and bio-food to that country. ‘There are chances, we have discussed it there, the Sanitary-Veterinary Agency are also having talks, and, if I am not wrong, a Chinese delegation is due to travel to Romania this coming November to discuss the subject’, Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin said during the conference. Russia is also going to send over specialists to Romania meat production and processing companies interested in export to the Russian market, after banning the import of Romanian meat and animal products because of the swine pest back in 1996, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Doru Dudas, Director General of the Fiscal Code Legislation Directorate of the Ministry of Public Finance, also present at the event, said European Union countries would be able to temporarily introduce reverse taxation of specific categories of goods or sectors where fiscal authorities are confronted by a level of tax evasion that is hard to fight without requesting the approval of the European Commission, after the modification of the relevant European directive. He made that note after Agriculture Minister Daniel Constantin said Romania had asked for an extension of the period of derogation from the reverse taxation of grains.

By RALUCA TONITA