TGDF President Kopuz: "Import Reliance in Agriculture and Food Should Be a Short-Term Measure"

2017 saw recurring import debates that flared up again recently with meat imports from France. TGDF President Şemsi Kopuz said that imports for price stability in products with supply shortages would be beneficial in the short term but would harm production in the long term. Kopuz noted that the excise tax application for certain beverages effective as of 1 January contradicts the commitment to combating food inflation.

Turkey Food and Beverage Industry Associations Federation (TGDF) President Şemsi Kopuz evaluated 2017 for the agriculture and food sector and expressed expectations for 2018.

Agricultural Growth Remained Low, Food Sector Continued Trade Surplus

According to 2017 third-quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data announced by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TURKSTAT), while the Turkish economy posted the world's highest growth rate of 11.1 percent in the third quarter, Kopuz drew attention to the fact that agriculture recorded the lowest growth at 2.8 percent in the same period, and shared the information that "The agricultural sector showed 3.3 percent growth over the nine-month period of the year, while agricultural output increased by 14 percent compared to the same period of the previous year to reach TRY 137 billion."

Emphasizing that Turkey's food sector, which has been among the sectors providing trade surplus for years, maintained this characteristic in 2017, TGDF President Kopuz pointed to provisional foreign trade data created through cooperation between TURKSTAT and the Customs and Trade Ministry; food and beverage exports reached USD 8.715 billion in the first ten months of 2017, while import value reached USD 3.942 billion and 971 thousand. Kopuz said, "The food and beverage industry provided a foreign trade surplus of USD 4.772 billion and 419 thousand in January-October 2017."

Duty-Free Imports in Agriculture and Food

Kopuz noted that reducing or zeroing customs duties on imports of certain agricultural and food products was among the most debated applications in 2017, and said: "To the discussions on the impact of price fluctuations in agricultural products and food prices on inflation, the import decisions taken last year were added.

In accordance with Food Committee decisions, imports were facilitated by reducing or zeroing customs duties in products with agricultural production shortages to prevent price increases.

Through various Cabinet Decrees published on different dates, customs duties were reduced or zeroed on imports of live animals, red meat, cereals, legumes and animal feed. TMO was authorized for duty-free imports in cereals, and the Meat and Dairy Board was authorized for duty-free imports of live animals and red meat.

According to Economy Ministry data, USD 1.18 billion worth of 4.9 million tons of food products were imported in the January-September period in products subject to customs duty reduction. Eighty percent of imports by volume and 69 percent by value were carried out under the domestic processing regime.

The monetary value of 963 thousand tons of products imported for domestic consumption was USD 368.7 million. For price stability, imports of agricultural and food products should be considered as a short-term solution.

In the long term, import-dependent policies produce results against the agricultural production carried out by our farmers and the food industry using these products as raw materials. Our hope is that production will be increased in products with supply shortages and imports will be stopped."