Unfortunately this potential has been met with resistance from countries with the shortages. Belgapom and the NAO recently issued guidelines for importers in Belgium and the Netherlands, respectively, warning them against the risk of importing Polish potatoes.
"The official message was to be careful, but the underlying message seemed to be 'don't do it'. Some doubts were raised about procedures in Poland and that the trucks might not be clean." shared Lukasz Ostrowicz from Polish potato supplier Bugaj.
Poland is the only potato producing country in the EU which is required to perform strict phytosanitary requirements when exporting their potatoes to other EU countries. These requirements have made it very difficult for Polish potato exporters, who usually find the risks of exporting outweigh the gains. Producers had been hesitant in the past to go through the export procedure because of it being so complicated, but now with the oversupply, Lukasz said that producers are now willing to take the risk.
Each lot of Polish potatoes destined for export has to be checked and tested. This costs a lot of money for growers, and the waiting time for the tests to begin can now be up to 3 weeks because of the increased demand from producers to have their potatoes tested. Once the testing is started, it takes around 3 days. Export is also a risk for growers, because if any diseases are found, they will not be allowed to grow or export their potatoes in the following seasons.
Lukasz said that many Polish growers have been approached by Dutch, Belgian and French companies about supplying processing potatoes for french fries.
The Polish Potato Association (Stowarzyszenie Polski Ziemniak) issued a statement in response to the warnings issued by Belgapom and the NAO, confirming that 'Poland had a very good year and as a result, many companies have decided to export to countries such as Italy, France, Holland and Belgium, despite the complicated export procedures. Once the potatoes reached the target countries, they were met with the statements from the potato boards in those countries who painted the Polish potato industry in a negative light. The Polish potato association feels that this is a violation of the rules of the unified market of the EU and that Polish companies had followed the necessary requirements, so they are appealing to the other associations to reassure importers that Polish potatoes with a certificate issued by the phytosanitary authorities are safe.'
Polish seed potatoes come from countries issuing warnings
"There are a lot of potato growers in Poland, with around 300,000 growers, compared to around 2,500 in the UK. Yes, there are many small growers who grow lower quality potatoes in Poland, but this is only for the domestic market and would never go out for export. These potatoes don't even make it into Polish supermarkets," said Lukasz.
"Professional potato growers in Poland ALWAYS use qualified seed materials. The irony is that these seed potatoes are primarily sourced from the Netherlands and Germany. The diseases that the Dutch and Belgian associations are warning about actually come from seed potatoes. Doubting that the potatoes grown in Poland are healthy almost seems like they are doubting that the seed material they are providing to Poland is healthy. It comes down to this being a political issue more than anything else and I think that they are only doing it because they feel that they need to protect their own market. The growers were probably wanting a reaction like this, but it is not fair or very logical for them to issue these warnings."
Lukasz shared that there is such a large demand, he feels it would make sense that Poland could help fill the gap. Also, because they are the only country in the EU to have such strict controls, their potatoes with a certificate issued by the phytosanitary authorities, are most likely safer than potatoes from any other country.
"I think that the situation goes against what the EU is all about; cooperation, free trade, eliminating surpluses and trying to manage the oversupply of potatoes and other produce between member states. I'm sure that at one point the situation could be reversed and we will need to buy from the Dutch. I can understand that they are afraid, but they could also be selling us huge volumes in two year's time."
For more information:Lukasz Ostrowicz
Bugaj Sp Zoo
Email: lukasz.ostrowicz@fhbugaj.pl