On December 13, 2022, the host of the pro-Kremlin “Sezoni TV” voiced a claim that the Poles are organizing protests because the export of their products to the European Union was stopped. The host further claimed that Australian farmers simply throw away a large amount of milk, because due to the imposed quotas, they cannot export this product to Europe.
The claims voiced by Mzhavanadze are false:
- The export of Polish products to the European Union has not been stopped, and most of Poland’s export earnings come from the EU member states; the current protest has another reason and is related to simplified entry and operation for Ukrainian truck drivers in the territory of the European Union;
- Australia does not have problems exporting dairy products, and the above-mentioned fact was related to the farmers’ strike due to the increase in wages, not the EU quotas.
Poland’s export figures are increasing annually
2022 turned out to be a record year for Poland in terms of income from exports, which amounted to 346.2 billion EUR. According to the international statistical database Statista, the main part of Poland’s sales comes from EU countries, and the first place is occupied by Germany in the amount of 95.6 billion EUR in 2022, which was the leader in previous years as well.
According to the official Polish Statistical Office, the amount of exports in the period January-October 2023 amounted to 293.5 billion EUR, which is 2.5% more than in the same period of the previous year. Of this, 219.6 billion EUR come from the countries of the European Union, and the first three places are occupied by Germany, the Czech Republic and France.
Statistics show that Poland’s exports are increasing annually, and EU countries remain the key partners. As for the protest mentioned by Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, it has been going on for more than a month on the Polish-Ukraine border, although it has other reasons. After the EU made it easier for Ukrainian truck drivers to enter and operate in the EU, Polish drivers have blocked several borders with Ukraine because Ukrainians work at much lower rates, which Polish drivers believe will put them out of competition and cut their incomes drastically. They demand the European Union restores the old system, on the basis of which Ukrainian companies needed a special permit to operate in the territory of the European Union. It should be noted that this protest is not sanctioned by the country’s government.
In addition to truck drivers, in 2023 Poland and Ukraine also had problems with Ukrainian grain. In particular, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria demanded that the EU should not allow the import of Ukrainian wheat and other grains to these countries, because the Ukrainian product would cause problems for local farmers due to large stocks and low prices. Brussels initially took into account their request and banned the sale of the Ukrainian product in these 5 countries, although this decision remained in force for only a few months, after which the European Union refused to extend it. In response, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary have taken the decision themselves and banned the sale of Ukrainian grain in their respective countries, although under the agreement, they allow carriers to use their territory to export Ukrainian products to other countries.
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Australian Dairy Industry
In 2023, Australia managed to produce more than 8 million liters of milk, so the country did not enter the world’s top ten, although according to milk exports, the state took seventh place in 2022, from which it received USD 1.5 billion in revenue, amounting to about 5% of world exports.
According to official data, Australia exports 30% of milk produced, 37% of which is sold to China. It should be noted that the first 10 places in Australia’s exports in this field have been occupied by Asian countries for years now.
Although both the number of farms and milk produced in Australia has declined since 2010, income from this economic sector has increased as the price of milk and dairy products has risen sharply.
As already mentioned, the country exports 30% of the produced milk, as a result, most of it is used for domestic consumption. Despite this, Australia still imports milk and milk products, mainly from New Zealand. The need for imports stems from the fact that production costs have increased and the country’s population has increased, which have combined to reduce the amount of milk exported by Australia.
Why was milk spilled in Australia?
Although the price of milk has risen sharply, the production of this product in Australia has been decreasing slightly in recent years, which is primarily due to a lack of labor. Currently, 33,500 people are employed in the dairy industry in the country.
In October 2023, some Australian farms had to spill thousands of liters of milk because 1,400 people working in the industry went on strike to demand a gradual increase in wages, and as a result some of the milk could not be processed and sold. Apart from these and similar isolated cases, which were caused by protests, farmers in Australia do not have to spill milk. Indeed, the European Union has established quotas and special quality controls on milk imported from other, non-member countries, although Australia does not have any difficulty in exports, and on the contrary, due to the high demand, the state even imports milk and dairy products.
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