RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IMA/INV/2
19June1995
ORGANIZATION(95-1621)
International Meat Agreement
INTERNATIONAL MEAT COUNCIL
Inventory ofDomestic Policies andTrade Measures
Poland
Parties agreed to"provide information ontheirdomestic policies andtrademeasures including
bilateral andplurilateral commitments inthebovine meatsector, andshallnotify asearly aspossible
anychanges insuchpolicies andmeasures thatarelikely toaffect international trade inbovine meat
andliveanimals" (Article III:3). TheSecretariat "shall draw upandkeepuptodateaninventory
ofallmeasures affecting tradeinbovine meatandliveanimals, including commitments resulting from
bilateral, plurilateral andmultilateral negotiations" (Article III:4).
Thedocumentscontainingtherepliestothequestionnaireondomesticpoliciesandtrademeasures
arecirculated under theseries IMA/INV. They willberevised asandwhen changes arenotified.
* * *IMA/INV/2
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PartA:Information onDomestic Policies andTrade Measures
I. Production
Thebasis forthePolish meatproduction arehogs, cattle, poultry andsheep. However, the
bulkofthemeatproduction ispork. Themostimportant istheprivate sector (individual farms and
co-operatives).
Theimplementation ofmarket economy in1989hasbrought important changes tothePolish
meatmarket. Priceliberalization andwithdrawal ofsubsidies significantly affected thesituation. Retail
prices increased sharply andtheinflation ratewentup.These factors aswellasthedecline ofpurchasing
powerofthepopulationresultedinsignificantchangesofconsumers'demand,whichcanstillbeobserved
inmeat andmilk. Thedemand formilk, dairy products andbeefdeclined while demand forpork
increased. Asaresult procurement milkprices declined tothepoint offorcing farmers toreduce cow
stocks. Thisbrought higher beefsupply andarelative decline inbeefprices.
InPoland production isfocused onmilkaswellasonmeat. Forthatreason itisbased on
adualpurpose breed ofcattle. According totheguidelines oftherecently approved development
programme forcattle andmeatproduction, there willbeanincrease inspecialized beefproduction.
Theprogramme isnowinitsfirststage ofdevelopment andisaimed atimproving beefquality.
Thenewsystem ofpurchasing price evaluation, based ontheEUROP system, isbeing
implemented bymany oftheprocessing plants. Currently prices foranimals ofmeatbreeds are20per
centhigher thanthose ofmilkbreeds. Theprocessing industry isalsooffering toproducers special
contractsforanimalsofcertainbreeds(charolaise,limousine,simentaler,piemontese)andspecialfeeding
régimes.
II.Internal prices andconsumption
There isnostateintervention onthebovine meatmarket. Until 1994market prices ofbovine
meathadbeen30percentlower thanprices ofpork. Since then, asaresult ofdecreased supply of
bovine meat, beefprices haveincreased. Recently, prices ofporkandbeefhaveevolved onmore
evenlevels.
Changes ofRetail Meat Prices
1993 1994
VI IX XII VI IX
XII1992 =100 XII1993 =100
Rawmeat(total) 104.0 129.4 150.6 109.0 115.3
-pork 99.8 120.9 152.3 101.7 110.9
-bovine 105.8 138.0 153.0 105.3 114.0
-poultry 109.1 136.0 143.8 127.6 125.6IMA/INV/2
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III.Measures attheFrontier
Atpresent, imported bovine meatissubject tothefollowing custom dutyrates:
-liveanimals forslaughter -20percent
-livepure-bred breeding animals -5percent
-bovine meat-30percent
-processed bovine meat-40percent.
There isanadditional 6percenttaxmaintained forbalance-of-payments reasons.
Exports
There arenoexport subsidies oranyother forms ofsupport available forexporters ofPolish
beef.
Imports
Apermit issued bytheVeterinary Department oftheMinistry ofAgriculture isnecessary for
cattle imports.
TheEuropean Union isthemain source ofimported bovine meat.
PartB:Information onBilateral orPlurilateral Agreements intheField ofBovine Animals, Meat
andOffal
None.