All sectors of Croatian agriculture are under strong pressure from unfair competition, and although it was expected that the Croatian government would start to shift and work more on increasing self-sufficiency and controlling imports due to the coronavirus crisis, this has not happened. This was stated by the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK), noting that the situation on the ground and in trade shows that the Croatian market is flooded with imported goods at dumping prices. Therefore, it is important, they believe in HPK, to take urgent action by the relevant institutions and to strictly apply all provisions of the Law on Unfair Trading Practices, as well as the Trade Act, and to punish those found to be offering goods below production prices. Below, we present the statement in full.
It is important to determine at what prices imported goods enter the Croatian market, and what are the reasons that Croatian producers cannot sell their products. It is also necessary to initiate actions and activate legal regulations on labeling and marking goods, so that consumers can clearly see what is domestic and what comes from imports, the conclusion of the 27th session of the Management Board of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture.
– We demand that the Ministry of Agriculture issue a strong appeal to other relevant institutions and inspections to increase market controls and that a working group be formed to prepare a price analysis of the market from which large quantities of goods come, especially milk, meat, fruit, vegetables, and bakery products, to determine whether the prices at which imported goods are offered in Croatian trade are lower than production prices in the countries from which they are imported. It is especially important to create an urgent intervention measure that will help producers maintain their production and manage to compete somewhat with the excessive import of goods, or market surpluses that have flooded the Croatian market, even though we all swore by domestic production during the coronavirus crisis. The state’s reaction has been absent, and now that we have a stable government we expect all actors in politics and institutions to understand that the crisis of Croatian agriculture is at its peak and that urgent action is needed. In this way, Croatian agriculture is threatened with further collapse – said HPK President Mladen Jakopović.
