CONSUMERS in Cyprus hit by high fruit and veg prices should see costs fall once the island is fully harmonised with the European Union.
That was the good news yesterday from Petros Markou, President of the Consumers Association, following press reports about high import taxes on agricultural products imported from EU countries.
Politis newspaper reported that some imported products, such as beans, were taxed by as much as 103 per cent, and others, for example, tomatoes — during the period from May 15 to October 31 last year — had a 42.6 per cent import tax slapped on them, as well as an additional £703.90 per 1,000 kilograms.
Onions, said to be taxed at 64.8 per cent, were far more expensive in Cyprus than in other European countries, because importers have to increase the price even further to make a profit, said Politis.
But, Markou told the Sunday Mail, these import taxes were only temporary and once Cyprus has fully harmonised with the EU they would be abolished.
“When we enter the EU there will be no such import taxes on products,” he confirmed. “Although for the time being they are very high, they have been in place for quite some time now and so are not a new phenomenon.”
He said the transitional phase was to prepare the local agriculture industry for what was to come once full harmonisation with the EU was achieved.
“In the past we were not allowed to import any foreign products, but when we signed the World Trade Organisation’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT) we were told that we could no longer forbid the import of goods, unless there was a health hazard involved with a particular country’s produce.
“So, in order to protect local production, the government decided to impose import duties on these goods for a transition period, to help the industry adapt to the new state of affairs. In fact, as of this year, I think a lot of these taxes are going to be abolished anyway,” said Markou.
“However,” he warned, “We are going to have problems, because our agricultural industry is going to be put to the test. That is a fact, and there is no way of getting round it. Our farmers will just not be able to compete with European imported goods because the prices will be so much lower, and they will face survival problems”.
Markou explained that the reason local fruit and vegetable products were so expensive was because basically there is not enough farmland to go round, which results in high production costs.
“Abroad, each farmer might have 500 acres of farmland, whereas in Cyprus people only have five acres because it is a small island,” he said. In other words, said Markou, the way forward would be to focus on quality and preference.
“We will have to base our local agriculture industry on high quality produce and consumer preference,” he said. “The weather in Cyprus is much better than in most other European countries, which means we have optimum conditions to produce premium quality goods. As consumers, I think we should bear this in mind when we are out shopping.” For example, said Markou, local apples were much tastier than imported ones.
He said Cyprus had another advantage: “We can produce some goods, like potatoes, during seasons when other European countries cannot, and so can focus on marketing them during those periods.”
Markou felt that the fear of what is to come was the reason why farmers were demanding subsidies from the government. “They can be subsidised to a point, but unfortunately the EU has put certain limitations as to what extent. In other words, we as consumers have nothing to fear, it’s the farmers who do.”
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
