As reported here, from January 1, Belarus will no longer allow certain imports from several countries. These include those in the European Union. The banned goods include fresh fruit and vegetables. More than 400,000 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables were exported to Belarus from/via EU countries last year.
That is according to Eurostat figures. Based on the figures for 20201's first nine months, it will be slightly more this year. A few years back, it was more than a million tons. That was right after the Russian import boycott, notes Jan-Kees Boon of Fruit & Vegetable Facts.
Still a thoroughfare to Russia
Belarusian fresh fruit and vegetable imports peaked at two million tons in 2015. After Russian instituted its import boycott in mid-2014, Belarus' imports surged. It gradually decreased to 650,000 tons in 2020. In some years, fresh fruits and vegetables were imported from all kinds of often also exotic countries. They even got pears from Yemen. That is according to Belarusian customs. This "trade" has now largely come to an end.
Belarus' import and export curves run parallel, as seen above. This clearly shows the country's importance as a transit destination. Exports of mainly apples and pears are almost exclusively focused on Russia.
Poland is the top supplier
According to Belarusian customs officials, half of the fresh fruit and vegetables it imported came from EU countries. The same was true in 2019. Today, Poland is the main supplier of these products to Belarus. Imports from that country amounted to 177,000 tons last year. So says the Belarusian Customs Service. That included 120,000 tons of apples and 35,000 tons of pears. Top fruit, therefore, accounted for 80% of the total.
Mostly top fruit
According to Eurostat, Poland (re)exported 260,000 tons of fresh fruit and vegetables to Belarus. This figure is higher because they include re-exports from other, mainly EU countries. The Eurostat figure for apple exports from Poland to Belarus does correspond to the Belarusian import figure. Eurostat says almost 90,000 tons of pears went to Belarus from/via Poland. These include Belgian and Dutch products from Belgium that go further east via Poland.
Poland also (re)exports Spanish products, among others. You can see that in the (re)export figures of products like strawberries, peaches, persimmons, and citrus.
Apples mainly from Poland, pears from Belgium and the Netherlands too
Top fruit also dominates the total EU exports to Belarus. Besides Poland, other EU countries send few apples to Belarus. As mentioned, Poland is less dominant for pears. In principle, Eurostat does not give figures by country of origin but by source country (last "port").
That is evident from Belarus' customs figures. For 2020, they estimate that 32,000 tons of Belgian pears and 13,000 tons of Dutch pears would have been imported. For imports from/via Poland, the Belarusian import statistics for 2020 stand at almost 35,000 tonnes.
Top fruit makes up almost 40% of imports
In 2020, Belarus imported 650,000 tons of fruit and vegetables. Apples make up 130,000 tons of that, and pears, 110,000 tons. Together these are good for 35 to 40% of the total. Bananas follow with 75,000 tons. Then it is tomatoes (45,000 tons), mandarins (36,000 tons), and peaches/nectarines (28,000 tons).
A lot from Turkey too
Turkey is the top non-EU supplier. In 2020, it was good for 106,000 tons. Before that, it sent more, with a peak in 2017. Then Belarus imported 215,000 tons of fresh goods from Turkey. Pears are the main product, and tomatoes and peaches/nectarines follow. Spain is the third larger supplier, according to Belarusian customs. That country imported 56,000 tons of fresh Spanish products last year.
Also notable is the import from Russia, which amounted to 55,000 tons in 2020. Bananas and watermelons are the main products that arrived in Belarus via Russia. Ecuador (38,000 tons), Belgium (35,000), the Netherlands (32,000), and Ukraine (20,000 tons) follow.
Click here for the fact sheet (in Dutch).
For more information
Jan Kees Boon
Fruit and Vegetable Facts
Website: www.fruitandvegetablefacts.com
Email: [email protected]