Farmers' Assembly: The origin of vegetable and fruit production will have to be carefully monitored

Today, July 31, a meeting was held with fruit and vegetable producers, wholesalers and retailers, led by the Minister of Agriculture Jānis Dūklavas, to discuss the situation in the fruit and vegetable sector, which has worsened because Russia has imposed a ban on the import of Polish vegetables and the European Union has allowed imports from Ukraine.

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Juris Lazdins, Chairman of the Farmers' Parliament, says: "It is no secret that the Poles have actively supported Ukraine's efforts towards Europe. It seems that once again Russia has chosen economic methods to resolve political issues, which this time affect the vegetable sector. This can have a very painful effect on our fruit and vegetable producers, because Polish producers have traditionally sold their surplus production in Latvia. However, this surplus may now exceed the entire volume of the Latvian vegetable market. It will depend on the choice of us consumers whether local producers will survive this situation. Therefore, we call on consumers, especially now, in the middle of the season, to choose and use high-quality fruits and vegetables of local origin in their food very carefully."

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Edīte Strazdiņa, a candidate for a member of the board of the Farmers' Parliament and head of the cooperative society "Mūsmāju dārzenie" (Our Vegetables), explains the results of this day's negotiations: "It is possible to flood our vegetable market with produce and thus destroy farms in one season, because Polish and Ukrainian producers are willing to sell their produce at dumping prices. We agreed on a common understanding that we must focus on long-term benefits for the Latvian economy - it is important for the country to guarantee jobs and thus the population in rural areas, which would decrease in the event of the collapse of the vegetable and fruit industry. I am pleased that retail chains confirmed that Latvian produce will always find a place in stores. We jointly agreed that the origin of produce must be carefully monitored so that dishonest machinators do not abuse the trust of local consumers by passing off imports as domestic produce. If there are concerns that imported produce is being passed off as produced in Latvia, I invite you to inform the Food and Veterinary Service about it.

"Right now, the vegetable sector is in a critical situation, but tomorrow Russia may turn against European dairy products, meat or, for example, metalworking. The government, producers, traders and citizens must stand together and protect their country's economy."