Allium insights

Starting in 2022, a ‘tariff quota (TRQ) warning’ has been issued to farmers. This is because the TRQ volume of sensitive items such as onions and garlic has stretched like a rubber band. TRQ is a system that applies low tariffs to a certain amount of 63 items stipulated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The initial purpose of the introduction of the WTO, when it was launched, was to focus on protecting farmers. The TRQ volume was set in advance in anticipation of damage to domestic agriculture due to imported agricultural products, and any volume exceeding this volume was managed by imposing high tariffs. The regulation that items with high domestic self-sufficiency should be bid on while avoiding major export periods is evidence of this. Now, 30 years after the launch of the WTO, TRQ is being haphazardly mobilized for the import of so-called ‘sensitive items’ with active domestic production. The basic TRQ volume for onions is 26,450 tons, but in 2023, it increased by 340% to 90,000 tons. Onions are subject to a 135% tariff in principle, but a 50% low tariff is imposed when TRQ is applied. If you import more than the amount set by the WTO, you must impose a higher tariff, but you can additionally allocate goods and quantities by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance Ordinance. ‘Quota tariffs’ have also become a system that threatens farmers like TRQs. Quota tariffs were mainly applied to raw grains, urea, and pesticide raw materials until 2010 to reduce the burden of agricultural management costs. However, they became a target of farmers’ caution due to the ‘gold cabbage’ controversy that broke out in 2010. The government imported cabbage at a low tariff using quota tariffs under the pretext of price stabilization. The number of agricultural and food products subject to quota tariffs increased from 35 in 2022 to 67 as of the first half of 2024. In 2024, cabbage, carrots, cabbage, and grapes, which had not been subject to quota tariffs for the past 10 years, were included in the target items. The situation where ‘TRQ’ and ‘quota tariffs’ are imposed simultaneously is also frequent. The number of such items increased from 10 in 2021 to 15 last year. According to data obtained by this newspaper from Democratic Party of Korea member Ahn Ho-young (Jeonbuk Wanju, Jinan, Muju) and member Im Mi-ae (proportional representation), simultaneous application is applied to onions, fruits, etc.

Since mid-December, prices for garlic on store shelves have confidently exceeded the mark of 200 UAH per kg. In hryvnias, this is an absolute record. Even during the pandemic, this vegetable was cheaper, because before the war it was grown in large fields in some places. Now there is nothing to extinguish the flames of demand for this hot vegetable. It is difficult to find even a couple of commodity batches in Ukraine, and the import of high-quality garlic is too expensive, reports ProAgro Group with reference to LIGA.net. “It is very difficult to find even two tons of commodity garlic for our own production. There is no sustainable cultivation of it in Ukraine. There are only small batches from vegetable gardens, of different quality and varieties. It is not suitable even for retail chains. What can we say about industrial processing,” said Serhiy Shysh, director of the Evroshok group of companies, which processes garlic (TM brand “Vse po chasniku”). Garlic has become more expensive due to the interaction of several factors. Firstly, demand for it has increased in Europe. Experts attribute this to the increase in the number of emigrants.

(Agraria.pe) Peru exported 14,327 tons of garlic for US$ 41.1 million in 2024, showing a drop of -24% in volume, but an increase of +29% in value, compared to what was reported in 2023.