According to an independent study conducted by a group of researchers at ASE for a major retailer, only 10% of what can be found in stores is local pork.

At market level, there is a commercial deficit of 25% of processed food products (pork is the main component, causing an 830 million euro annual deficit)

The main problem: the mobility of animals that end up being sold at fairs even though they do not meet the quality criteria for sale

In 2016, 4.6 million pigs were slaughtered in Romania, and in 2022 only 3 million. This is just one of the consequences of the African swine fever epidemic. To stop swine fever, 1.6 million pigs were lost, including 100,000 sows from the herd, more than half of the herd.

The fight against swine fever remains crucial for stability, confidence and increased investor interest in the sector. One of the possible reasons for the occurrence of swine fever is non-observance of biosecurity rules when raising pigs on family farms.

The main problem is the mobility of animals that end up being sold at fairs, even though they do not meet the quality criteria for sale.

In addition, small slaughterhouses play a significant negative role in the spread of swine fever due to the problem of workers who do not comply with sanitary and veterinary conditions and therefore sanitary-veterinary measures should be primarily aimed at these categories.

context:

• In 1995, Romania imported only 2.4% of the resources needed for domestic consumption. In 2019, the share of imports increased to almost half of domestic consumption needs (47% to be exact).

• Resources increased by 37% in 2019 compared to 1995, while imports increased alarmingly, more than 26 times, says the president of INS Tudorel Andrei in his work, recently published by the Academy Publishing House “Romania’s External Trade in Agri-Food Products 1990-2020”.

• These statistics show us that for 25 years we have become one of the important European importers of this product for the traditional agriculture of our country.

• If we talk about the year 1990, the number of pigs is 70% smaller.

• In the 90s, we were an exporter of pork, but over time we became a big importer, all because of an inexplicable reduction in livestock, although the pig population was affected by swine fever. We wonder how long such a negative situation can last for such an important product as pork, a product that has a tradition in our country – says the head of the INS

Possible solutions to the problems of pig farming were found, including stopping the movement of pigs between households

• 1. Regulation of pig breeding in households;

• 2. Stopping the movement of pigs between households;

• 3. Legislative regulations regarding the restriction of pig breeding in households only for the purpose of own consumption;

• 4. Introduction of much more drastic coercive measures regarding the sale of pigs at fairs;

• 5. Subsidizing existing pig farms, including those that no longer have livestock;

• 6. Creation of a separate shelf with a “Product in Romania” label and implementation of a quality labeling scheme (regulated at the national level);

• 7. Absorption of European funds for infrastructure (for example, Poland) – for vertical integration and cost efficiency (especially in energy);

• 8. Creation of private-private partnerships with large farmers for small households that have 1-2 pigs to support through support programs – subsidies

• 9. Integration of farmers into large supply chains of large farmers;

• 10. Special credit lines at IMM Invest to provide working capital for industry.

Having a significant natural potential, Romania, unlike Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland, allowed itself the “luxury” of importing agricultural products in significant volumes.

“Although it has significant natural potential, Romania, unlike Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland, has allowed itself the ‘luxury’ of importing agro-food products in significant quantities to the detriment of domestic production,” explains the head of the INS. Tudorel Andrey in “Foreign trade of Romania in agri-food products 1990-2020”.

A significant negative impact on our foreign trade in agri-food products, almost 335 euros per person was registered in the commodity category “Live animals and products of animal origin”. Practically, says the head of statistics, ahead of exports over imports of goods of this category, every Romanian has accumulated, Every year from the period 2012-2021, the debt is almost 28 euros.

It seems not much, says Andrii Tudorel, but if we take into account the number of years and the size of the permanent population, we will find that the accumulated debt is almost 4 billion euros!

Among the 20 largest meat-producing countries in the world, we also find five countries of the European Union: Germany with a production of 8.2 million tons of carcasses, which corresponds to a production of almost 100 kg per inhabitant, Spain with 7 million tons with an average of per capita 150 kg, France with production of 5.6 million tons – 86 kg/person, Poland with production of 4.5 million tons – 116 kg/person and Italy with production in 2018 of 3.7 million tons – 61 kg/woman. Romania produces slightly more than 1 million tons of meat, which is equivalent to 52 kg per inhabitant

Several possible explanations

In a discussion with HotNews, Raiffeisen Bank’s chief economist explained some of the reasons why we are where we are. “As an economist, it is clear to me that Romania has very large resources in agriculture. We are a country with huge agricultural potential. We are among the top five European countries in terms of arable land after France, Spain, Germany and Poland. So, in terms of our size as an agricultural player, we should be a very large player at the European level. Agriculture also plays a very important social role in Romania. We also have a population that is quite rural and engaged in agriculture – the population employed in agriculture is about 21.8% of the total, but the gross value added of agriculture is only 3.8% of GDP. percent That’s a lot. The European average is 4.6%,” said Dumitru.

What else did the Romanian economist add regarding our agriculture and animal husbandry

• When 20% of the employed population produces only 4% of your GDP, that means we have a lot of inefficiency in the use of labor in agriculture. At the same time, we have this problem of natural agriculture. If we look at the numbers, we see that approximately 87 percent of the population employed in agriculture are so-called “self-employed,” mostly engaged in what we call subsistence agriculture.

• If we look at the size of the farms, the average farm size in Romania is 3.7 hectares, which is ridiculous because it is impossible to do efficient farming on 3.7 hectares. At the other pole is the Czech Republic, where the size of the farm is 130 hectares. Our Bulgarian neighbors have an average size of 22 hectares and have a very high rate of unification. In our country, unification is much slower.

• We have many subsidiary farms. We have more than 86% of farms that consume more than 50% of what they produce (meaning that these farms produce more for their own consumption), and at the same time we have one of the highest proportions of farms in Europe where the manager is over 65. years We have aging farm managers and that obviously has serious consequences as well.

• If we look at the education of those involved in agriculture, or the proportion of those who say they learn a trade on the job, or those who rely only on their own experience, in Romania we have the highest proportion. In our country, the majority – 90% – of those engaged in agriculture rely on the experience gained at work.

• Animal husbandry puts us at the bottom of the European ranking. We also have a big problem with animal husbandry. In terms of the number of animals/farm, we are the last in the EU. Even in terms of the number of animals per hectare, everything is bad for us, and all this is also reflected in the trade balance.

• Likewise, we have only 0.6% of European production of beef, 1.5% of pork, 3.4% of chicken and only 2.6% of milk. Why are these numbers important? Because they are visible further in the trade balance. If we look at the trade balance, we have a large structural agri-food deficit, which is in a few major products: meat, vegetables, fruit and milk and dairy products.

Read the full study here

N. Red: According to the protocol that formed the basis of the study, representatives of PENNY (Daniel Gross – CEO, Marek Dolezal – COO, Daniel Costache – Head of Food Procurement, Alexandra Curtman – Project Management Office, Gabriela Mihăilescu – Compliance and Public Relations Coordinator, Mihai Poenaru – Compliance Specialist legislation, Lucian Pavel – marketing manager, Iryna Butnaru – corporate communications manager and press secretary), producers of both industries, both pig farming and aquaculture (Radu Timis – Christim, CEOAdrian Balaban – Cooperative “Silisht pig farming”.Florin Burculescu – President – “My Country” cooperative.Bohdan Grama – general director, Slaughterhouse in ParisOctavian Paltanea – Development Manager – KarmistinCaesar Ludoshanu, Florin Raba and Dina Cerna from SmithfieldAntoci Ioan – General Director – Suinprod SAGeorgiana Daskalou – Seafood DeltaicaOleksandr Kostov – Kralex food solutionsConstantin Drăghiceanu – Director – Komana Park and others), but also representatives of the state authorities (George Scarlet – senatorNini Sepunaru – Secretary of State for relations with the parliament, Horia Constantinescu – President of the National Administration for the Protection of Consumer RightsNikolay Bochu is the president National Veterinary and Sanitary Administration and Food Safety AdministrationMihai Nyagu – director Ministry of Agriculture and Rural DevelopmentMaryan Avram is the president National Agency of Fisheries and AquacultureGheorghe Stefan – director of the Ministry of Agriculture, Christian Duiku – representative of the National Veterinary and Sanitary Administration and Food Safety Administration, Dan Dragan – state secretary Ministry of Energy, Laura Marinas – Ministry of European Investments and ProjectsDumitru Nanku – general manager of National SME Loan Guarantee Fundri, Bohdan Mihai Lari – State Secretary – Ministry of Finance).