Polish superfruit boosts South Korea EU trade agreements open up new markets for Polish agricultural products

• South Korean approval of EU agricultural certificates has opened up previously inaccessible markets to small agricultural producers from the EU.

• Poland is world’s largest producer of chokeberry. Over 90% of production is exported.

• Polish chokeberry producers now have their sights on Japan, with which an EU trade deal is under negotiation.

International trade has increased the demand for Chokeberry from Poland, the world’s largest producer of the berry packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Poland produces more than 50,000 tons of chokeberry per year, of which more than 90% is exported. EU trade agreements, such as the one signed with South Korea in 2011, lower tariffs and ease the administrative burdens of international trade. The trade agreement enabled small Polish Chokeberry producer, Aronia Polska, to enter the South Korean market – a move that was previously only possible for the biggest players in the industry. Upon ratification of the trade agreement in 2011, South Korea began to recognise EU agricultural certificates. This made exporting much easier for producers of all sizes.

According to Professor Iwona Wawer of the Medical University of Warsaw, the health benefits of Chokeberry, which the Americans call the “super-berry”, are hard to overestimate and are the reason behind the fruit’s popularity. Polish Chokeberry producers now have their sights set on Japan, with which the EU is currently negotiating a trade deal. Leon Kraszewski, President of the United Chokeberry agricultural cluster explains that trade with Japan is extremely bureaucratic at present, but the negotiated trade agreement would help to overcome such trade barriers. More generally, trade is strong between South Korea and the EU. In 2014, European companies exported goods to South Korea worth €43.2 billion.

Did you know? • On average, each €1 billion of exports supports

14 000 jobs across the EU. • In Poland alone, 1 in 8 jobs depends on exports to

countries outside the EU.

     

 

                                                                                                                                               

“The health benefits of chokeberry are hard to overestimate and people in South Korea know that. The trade agreement between the EU and South Korea removed many barriers and allowed the producers of ‘superberry’ from Poland to gain greater access to this market.”

Trade agreement between the EU and South Korea – boosting EU exports since 2011 The Trade Agreement between the EU and South Korea entered into force in July 2011, the EU’s first trade deal with an Asian country. The agreement lifted numerous barriers to trade – most particularly for cars, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and electronics. Find out more about the EU’s trade relations with South Korea: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/south-korea/ Check out more examples of small businesses that export from the EU: http://ec.europa.eu/trade/exporter-stories

Professor Iwona Wawer, The Medical University of Warsaw

Did you know? • In 2014, European companies exported goods

to South Korea worth €43.2 billion. • In 2014, agricultural export from the EU to

South Korea amounted to around €2.4 bilion.