|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Floricultural Exporters Unearth German Blumen Market
A $2-billion-per-year floricultural product import market confirms the longstanding love affair that Germans have with flowers and other floricultural products.
Visitors to Germany can easily verify the flourishing floral trade -- check out a bustling corner florist shop on a dark, wintry day, or the overflowing window boxes found on window ledges in the summer.
The United States, the largest non-European Union (EU) floricultural exporter, maintains a market share of $37 million, or less than 2 percent of Germany's total imports of these products. U.S. exports to this lucrative market consist primarily of ferns and other cut greenery.
The Netherlands dominates the German import market with an average share of 75 percent. Other major suppliers include Italy and Denmark.
Because of the Uruguay Round Agreement, the EU has agreed to reduce import tariffs on floricultural products, prorating reductions over the next five years. By the year 2000, tariffs will be reduced 50 percent from current levels.
This tariff reduction will enable non-EU exporters, formerly unable to compete with EU prices, to develop markets for their products.
In 1995, Germany was the fourth largest floricultural export market for the United States, after Canada, Mexico and the Netherlands. The 50-percent tariff reductions for floriculture projected by 2000 could greatly enhance the development of this export market.
Market Proliferated After Unification
Since the unification of Germany in 1990, domestic sales of floricultural products have grown by nearly 25 percent. Annual turnover in the German wholesale market is estimated at $5.5 billion.
Germany also exports $120 million worth of floricultural products each year, primarily to other EU countries.
Domestically potted plants are produced on 7,400 hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres). Nursery areas are estimated at 4,700 hectares, and greenhouse areas occupy about 2,700 hectares.
Two Channels Distribute Products
Most floricultural products are marketed through two major distribution systems--the growers' market and the wholesale trade.
Domestic plants are typically auctioned at the growers' market, where wholesalers and importers also sell their products. Most importers sell their products to the wholesale trade.
Some companies, however, circumvent the standard distribution process by buying low-priced plants at auctions in the Netherlands and selling directly to retailers.
German retailers do not directly import U.S. floricultural products, but rather source them from a local importer. Local importers have the expertise needed by U.S. exporters to access the German retail market. The German importer can ensure that products meet all German and EU import requirements.
EU Specifies Phytosanitary Rules
EU Directive 77/93/EEC contains the rules on protective measures against the introduction of organisms harmful to plants and plant products.
Annexes to this Directive provide detailed listings of harmful organisms for which introduction is prohibited. The annexes list special requirements for plants and plant products that may carry certain risks.
Annex 5 of the Directive provides a list of plants and plant products for which a phytosanitary certificate is required. Special phytosanitary certification is required for plants shipped in soil or other growing media containing soil. (See box for where to get information.)
Plant Show Held Yearly
The Internationale Pflanzen Messe (International Plant Show, or IPM) is held every February in Essen, Germany. The show features plants and horticultural equipment and is the largest show of its kind in the world.
In 1996, 850 exhibitors from 25 countries participated in the show, which was visited by 40,000 people.
The Southern U.S. Trade Association (SUSTA), along with the Southern Nurserymen's Association, sponsored a U.S. pavilion at the 1996 exhibit. Representatives from 13 southeastern U.S. nurseries took part in the show.
EU Phytosanitary Requirements
General information on EU import regulations for floricultural products can be obtained from the following organizations:
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service/USDA
Export Certification, Unit 60
Stop 1233
4700 River Road
Riverdale, MD 20737-1233
Tel. (301) 734-8537
Fax. (301) 734-5786
The Federal Association of German Flower Wholesalers and Importers (Bundesverband des Deutschen Blumen- Gross- und Importhandels e.V.), whose address follows, represents the interests of the German floricultural sector.
Bundesverband des Deutschen Blumen-Gross- und Importhandels e.V.
Juelicher Str. 32
40477 Duesseldorf, Germany
Tel. (011-49) (211) 441388
Fax. (011-49) (211) 482647
The association also publishes a magazine, which provides market information (in German) and advertising opportunities:
Blumen
Apfeldruck Donau Verlag GmbH
Augsburger Str. 82
89312 Guensburg, Germany
Tel. (011-49) (8221) 6077
Fax. (011-49) (8221) 34527
USDA Provides Marketing Assistance
USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service assists exporters interested in marketing their floricultural products in Germany.
FAS maintains two posts in Germany. The Office of Agricultural Affairs, located in the U.S. Embassy in Bonn, oversees all USDA activities in Germany, including work on EU phytosanitary regulations:
Office of Agricultural Affairs
American Embassy/Bonn
PSC 117, Box 385
APO AE 09080
Tel. (011-49) (228) 339-2133
Fax. (011-49) (228) 334-697
The FAS Agricultural Trade Office (ATO), located in the American Consulate in Hamburg, coordinates FAS marketing activities in Germany. Facilitating trade contacts between U.S. agricultural suppliers and German importers represents a major ATO marketing function. The office can supply U.S. exporters with basic market information, including lists of German agricultural importers, categorized by commodity sector:
U.S. Agricultural Trade Office
Alsterufer 28
20354 Hamburg, Germany
Tel. (011-49) (40) 414-6070
Fax. (011-49) (40) 4146-0720
The AgExport Services Division in Washington, D.C., offers a variety of export services such as trade leads, U.S. suppliers and foreign buyers lists, market reports and trade show assistance:
AgExport Services Division, FAS
Stop 1052
1400 Independence Ave., SW.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 20250-1052
Tel. (202) 720-7103
Fax. (202) 690-4374
_________________________________
This article was prepared from a market brief issued jointly by the Office of Agricultural Affairs in the U.S. Embassy, Bonn, Germany [tel. (011-49) 228-339-2133; fax. (011-49) 228-334-697] and the Agricultural Trade Office in Hamburg, Germany [tel. (011-49) 4041-46070; fax. (011-49) 4041-460720.
|
|