I would not say that there is tension among vegetable producers. This was said in the program "Denyat na Zievo" on Nova News by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Plamen Abrovski in response to a question about whether the dissatisfaction of greenhouse producers is growing due to illegal imports.
This year is a very good year in terms of the harvest and I call for looking for Bulgarian vegetables. The problem comes from imports - when it is legal, we carry out control, but when it is illegal, the NRA, customs, and the Bulgarian Food and Drug Administration do not catch it. I can compare it to the sewerage system, said Abrovski.
We have created a very serious organization and have greatly strengthened control at the external borders - with Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey. During the inspection, I was surprised by the anomaly with the prices - we found tomatoes with original documents from Kosovo at a price of 30 euro cents, the Minister of Agriculture announced.
We have started asking questions, we are still collecting information from other border crossings. I am not saying that unregulated activities are being carried out, I am not saying that control is not being carried out, but we will analyze what quantity is entering Kosovo and I will most likely allow myself to make contact with my colleagues from the Balkan Peninsula, because if this is a sale at a reduced price, it causes damage not only to the fiscal of our country, but also to the fiscal of the country from which the import is made. It is entirely possible that there is a reasonable explanation for producing, bringing to Bulgaria and selling at such a price, but so far I have not found one, Plamen Abrovski pointed out.
A verification mechanism will be prepared, he specified.
The control we carry out is important for both safety and quality. So far, no cases of elevated pesticide levels have been identified, the minister noted.
Abrovski commented that during his meetings with representatives of large retail chains, it became clear that the "Basket with Care" initiative is working very successfully.
The mass consumer of the products from "Basket with Care" are women. The idea is to help consolidate the market, to help our producers cooperate and consumers have easier access to their goods, explained the Minister of Agriculture and Food.
He also announced that the management program is almost ready and will most likely be presented next week.