October 21, 2009

Polish farmers are calling for subsidies for pork exports outside the EU, as they face huge losses when pork exports from the EU declined by nearly 15 percent in the first half of this year.

Currently the EU pork exports are steadily declining as a result of the influx of cheaper meat from Brazil and the US.

The global financial crisis has already shifted consumer demand towards cheaper meat, especially in Eastern Europe where local consumers can no longer afford to buy expensive EU meat.

A lower demand for EU pork has led to an oversupply, leading pork prices in Poland and other European countries to fall at record rates.

According to sources in Poland's Ministry of Agriculture, a special delegation of Polish farmers will visit Brussels in order to discuss the possibility of additional governmental support.