How Turkey "blocks" Greek agricultural products with high tariffs

However, the numbers show that not only the trade balance remains negative for Greece, but also that a rather prohibitive framework is maintained for Greek food exports to Turkey. Starting from the general picture, as reflected in the annual Report of the Office of Commercial and Economic Affairs of the Greek Embassy, ​​Turkish imports in 2023 amounted to 361.9 billion dollars, marking a marginal drop of 0.48% compared to 2022. Is Greece among the main exporting countries? No.

The most important country of origin of Turkish imports in 2023 was the Russian Federation, from which goods worth 45.6 billion dollars were imported. The first ten trading partners include China, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, Italy, India, France, South Korea. According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, Greece maintained its 37th position among the countries of origin of products imported to Turkey.

On the other hand, Greece is the 16th importing country for Turkish products. Total imports exceeded 2.7 billion euros, while Greek exports to Turkey were limited to 1.8 billion euros, widening the trade deficit to 907 million euros.

The Turkish "hurdle"
Of particular interest, however, is the image of Greek agricultural products-food exports. Of the total of 1.2 billion euros, which are related to exports of products other than petroleum products, only 50.1 million euros are related to food!

The first thought that one could make is that Greek products face strong competition from their Turkish counterparts, which have clearly lower production costs. But that's the least of it. The sector of agricultural products and food is governed by high protectionism, in terms of external competition, through bureaucratic procedures and practices, which make imports difficult and above all through high tariffs.

Based on the EU-Turkey Customs Union Agreement, all agricultural products, fresh and processed, of EU origin are subject to customs duties in Turkey. Tariffs are particularly high - almost prohibitive for some foods and beverages - given that they compete mainly with similar domestic products. And for the record:

Meat: 20- 225%
Fresh fish: 30%
Slice: 180%
Kefalotyri: 138%
Honey: 38.5%
Vegetables: 19.3- 49.5%
Legumes: 19.5%
Nuts: 10-30%
Fruit: 7- 86.4%
Cereals: 0- 130%
Rice: 13- 45%
Olive oil: 31.2%
Sausages: 96.3%
Juices: 15- 58.5%
1% VAT is added to the above duties, but these are not the only obstacles.

On top of that, there is a special import charge for the public housing fund, for a sufficient number of agricultural products, while in addition to the imposed duties, a Special Consumption Tax is provided for certain categories of alcoholic beverages. Even in the cases where this tax is zero, a minimum tax is provided depending on the percentage of alcohol, an element which significantly increases the price of alcoholic beverages (beer, VAT: 63%+0.63 TL/liter, wines 5 .75 TL/liter of pure alcohol, ouzo 171 TL/liter of pure alcohol).