Browse Data and Analysis

Following declining production in 2021 due to COVID-19 and outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), EU chicken meat production is expected to resume growth in 2022 and 2023. The EU chicken meat trade surplus will decrease as imports are growing and exports will continue to decline. As consumption in hotels, restaurants and institutional (HRI) outlets resumes, demand for inexpensive chicken meat, especially from Brazil and Thailand, is rising.

The European Commission will allocate €185.9 million (approximately $197.4 million) in 2023 for the promotion of European Union agri-food products. This program will focus on the promotion of agri-food products that align with the objectives of the EU Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy.

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.

Warm and dry summer conditions have driven the EU’s MY 2022/23 citrus production down to 10.5 million metric tons (MT). The production decline has been especially steep in the case of orange production, which is anticipated to decline by nearly 13 percent.

The European Union (EU) follows a complex, rolling system of review for active ingredients and Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) in food. For agricultural inputs, U.S. farmers must know early in the process of review to prevent or mitigate the loss of, and/or access to, chemical inputs.

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.

On November 30, 2022, the European Commission proposed a revision of the 1994 Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. Some of the proposed requirements may impact agri-food sectors and U.S. exports of processed food and beverages to the European Union.

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.

The European Commission has published a draft of Article 118 of the EU Veterinary Medicinal Products Regulation (EU) 2019/6, which extends the EU ban on the use of certain antimicrobials in animals and products of animal origin to imports into the Union.

On November 9, 2022, the European Commission published a Communication on the availability and affordability of fertilizers to propose solutions to the important increase in prices that EU farmers are facing. The Communication was met with heavy criticism by European farmers who expected more impactful solutions.