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Bulgaria is a small but growing market for U.S. food and agricultural products. In 2021, total Bulgarian food and agricultural imports were valued at $6.13 billion, up 18 percent from 2020, of which 1.3 percent, or $80.13 million, were sourced from the United States. During the first eight months of 2022, total food and agricultural imports increased by 45.3 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bulgaria was a growing market for food and beverages, with rising consumer confidence, declining unemployment, increasing incomes, and a stable number of foreign tourists driving expansion.

The tree nut market in Bulgaria had a slow, but stable recovery in marketing year (MY) 2021/22 due to reopening of the food service industry and an improved tourist and travel season. However, economic challenges, food inflation, and high energy prices have negatively affected the demand for higher-end nuts.

Bulgaria acceded to the European Union (EU) in 2007 and follows EU directives and regulations pertaining to food safety, quality, and standards. This report outlines legislation regarding U.S. food-product exports to Bulgaria, particularly those rules which differ from EU legislation.

As a European Union (EU) Member State, Bulgaria applies EU regulatory requirements for all animal- and plant-origin food and agricultural imports. Bulgarian regulatory authorities may be consulted, on a case-by-case basis, regarding import requirements for some categories of non-harmonized products.

In 2021 and 2022 to date, the Bulgarian livestock industry has successfully recovered following the 2019 African Swine Fever (ASF) crisis. The major challenges in 2021/2022 were related to sharply increasing feed grain and energy prices, skyrocketing inflation, and fluctuations in consumer demand related to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Bulgarian fish and seafood importers are seeking to expand the variety of locally available fish, particularly among the mid and high-value categories. According to the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (NSI), which measures trade data based on country of origin, and therefore captures U.S. trade routed through other European ports of entry, Bulgaria imported $166,000 of U.S. fish and seafood in 2021, up 29 percent from the difficult 2020, but significantly lower than the pre-COVID levels of $554,656 in 2019.

African swine fever (ASF) presented significant challenges for Bulgaria’s livestock industry in 2019. ASF drove Bulgaria’s total 2019 swine inventory down by 25 percent and the number of swine...

Imports and sales of U.S. tree nuts in marketing year (MY) 2019/20 are above MY 2018/19 year, despite the challenging market dynamics. U.S. almond exports to Bulgaria during the first nine months...