The general consensus among Russian food and drink traders is that accession will not have much impact on trade, reports in the Polish business press have said. However, for the accession countries it could prove quite the reverse. In light of this, Polish authorities have pointed out a number of areas which they say could threaten the future of the €300 million food trade market with Russia and other non-accession European countries .
Once accession is completed on 1 May, 88 existing bilateral trade agreements held by Poland with non-EU countries will be annulled. The majority of these are with Russia and other Eastern European countries, and a significant part of that trade is made up from food and drink derived produce.
After accession, Poland's trade with third countries will then be governed by EU authorities, who will then determine tariffs on food and drink exports. Currently the EU is trying to ratify the exact terms for trade with non-EU countries, but Polish authorities fear that this will not take place before accession, leading to problems with customs duties on Polish food and drink exports destined for countries outside of the EU.
Further fears are that tariffs on food and drink products destined for non-EU countries will prove prohibitive and will subsequently have a negative impact on trade.
The Polish authorities' worries over duties on food exports are only hypothetical right now, but with accession a matter of weeks away, those fears could soon be a reality.