RSS
Country of the Year at BioFach 2013 costs Romania 800,000 euros
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Daniel Constantin and Member of the Management Board of Nuremberg Messe Claus Rattich signed on Thursday the contract by which Romania will become the Country of the Year at the World Organic Trade Fair BioFach Nuremberg to take place in Feb. 2013.
'The financial effort of the ministry for this event is put at 800,000 euros, but I believe that it will mirror mainly in the image and promotion of the local products and the experience exchanges. Our duty towards the participants is to make sure the exhibition stands are properly equipped and the products are delivered,' Daniel Constantin said at the signing of the accord.
Romania's capacity as the Country of the Year is a unique opportunity for the Romanian organic agriculture because the country will be provided with a much bigger exhibition area, as well as with more promotion possibilities.
As to the processing of organic raw material in Romania, Constantin said it was supported only through Measures 123 and 121 of the National Programme of Rural Development (PNRD), and the operators in this sector who submitted applications had preferential scores.
'Unfortunately, when the Measure 123 was established, it was highly accessed by the big Romanian processing companies relying on extensive funds, and between 2008-2010 when the funds ran out, the organic agriculture was not strong enough. There were 3,100 bio operators in 2010, at this time there are 26,000 certified organic operators and a bio cultivated surface covering 450,000 hectares. On top of that, the processing surface was less developed, being more like a family business. The operators began to trade these products, but no big project was announced so far,' the minister also said.
In Romania, the consumption of organic products is not so high because the purchasing power is pretty low and cannot compare with Germany's. Moreover, the prices of these products are a little bit higher compared to the products of the traditional agriculture.
'We do not have a high consumption of organic products on the Romanian market, but a huge potential to export them, as 80 percent are shipped to other countries,' Daniel Constantin pointed out.
In his turn, Claus Rattich underscored the fact that it is important that Romania will be the country of the year at BioFach 2013 because it has a lot to offer in this sector.
'Romania's organic sector has a lot to offer. Its spectrum of enjoyable products ranges from corn, oilseeds, fruit, berries and honey to herbs and mushrooms. We look forward to welcoming Romania, which has already enhanced the event with locally grown organic products for many years, as Country of the Year at BioFach in 2013!', Rattich said.
Biofach is the world's largest fair of organic products, with over 2,500 exhibitors from over 90 countries presenting their products on a surface covering 88,500 square meters to over 44,500 trade buyers, more than 20,000 visitors being outside Germany.
According to data released by the Association of the Organic Farming Operators 'BIO-Romania', the domestic market of organic products currently amounts to about 80 million euros, while exports of such products stood at 200 million euros in 2011, registering a two-fold increase compared to 2010.
Same as the previous years, Romania continues to export mainly cereals, honey, berries and very few processed products such as cheeses, wines or bakery. The European countries are the main export markets of Romania for the bio products, Germany, Austria or Belgium being among the states which massively import raw material obtained by the local bio system, but also the main suppliers for processed bio products for the Romanian market.