Jānis Gaigals, head of the Latvian United Poultry Association, told Latvian Radio that egg imports in the EU have quadrupled in recent years.
Egg imports increased after import duties on Ukrainian products were abolished. Although the public perception is that this revenue is support for the Ukrainian government, Gaigals believes that this is not the case.
Production standards in Ukraine are lower and the country does not have to comply with European Union requirements, which leads to significant savings and distorts competition. This unequal competition has led to Latvian egg producers selling below cost, as they did last year and at the beginning of this year.
"The poultry industry believes it would be fair if import duties were not abolished, but were set at a level that balances production conditions and does not distort the market, and that all the import duties collected were passed on to the Ukrainian government. This would then be direct, economic support," said Gaigals.
Toms Auškāps, board member of Balticovo, the largest egg production company in the Baltics, points out that the presence of so-called third-country products has been felt on Latvian shelves all the time, but in recent years it has only grown.
"We feel we are on a slightly uneven playing field at the same table, because it is clear that outside the European Union there are completely different requirements, different conditions and also much lower costs, so this does not give us the best starting position."
This also affects the profitability of the company, as profits are reduced and there is less room to invest in development. However, Balticovo sees opportunities in exports, which allows it to be successful. Balticovo exports most of its production to more than 20 countries.
But small companies whose products are slowly being pushed off the shelves are more worried.
This summer, as a result of intensive negotiations and compromises, the European Commission and the European Parliament decided to extend the abolition of import duties on egg production. At the same time, it was decided to introduce a rapid reaction mechanism. This stipulates that when imports reach the average level of the last two years, import duties must be paid.
This quota was met within one and a half months, but the reintroduction of import duties did not affect the volume of egg imports, as the cost of production, or the difference in production costs, is so large that the small import duty of 50 cents per 10 eggs does not affect producers' ability to sell much cheaper products.
Gaigals believes that the European Parliament will have to revisit this issue, as farmers' organizations are loudly calling for a review of the arrangements.
"To be able to meet all the European requirements - [production is] at least 15, 20 or 25% more costly than those third country companies that do not meet these requirements. So they can produce much cheaper. The import duty must be objectively calculated so as not to distort the market in Europe."
