Indexes
December 2018 | Agri Review
25
December
2018
On April 3, 2015 the Government of Georgia adopted a technical regulation in the dairy sector in order to define major principles for the production, processing, and distribution of dairy products. Later in 2017, the regulation was amended and the law now strictly regulates the labelling of dairy products and particularly the use of terms such as “cheese” and “butter”. According to the regulation, a product can be called “cheese” only if it is produced from raw milk, and the use of milk powder for cheese making is prohibited. As for butter, it can only be produced with milk fat and the use of vegetable oil is not allowed.
While the regulation has been in force for a couple of years now, there are significant challenges to its implementation. It is particularly difficult to control the usage of milk powder in cheese production given that most cheese producers are unregistered family holdings.
Milk powder is used not only by unregistered family holdings but by registered producers as well, due to the desire to minimize production costs and in response to the deficit of safe, high-quality raw milk in the country. Statistics show that milk production in Georgia is declining while imports of milk powder are increasing in 2017, Georgia imported milk powder from 19 countries and 24% of imports came from Ukraine. Imports of vegetable oils are also increasing and most of them come from Azerbaijan (62%).
The major challenges associated with the implementation of technical regulations include the absence of control over non-registered dairy producers, who produce more than 97% of milk; lack of control over registered dairy producers and retailers, and low awareness of consumers about their role in the enforcement of technical regulations.
Recent Publications
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June 2024 | Agri Review
28
June
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In June 2024, the National Statistics Office of Georgia issued its annual publication on the agricultural sector – Agriculture of Georgia 2023. The publication estimates that agriculture, forestry, and fishing comprised 6.9% of the GDP in 2023, which is slightly lower than in previous years, but in line with general trends over the last few years (agricultural GDP being 7-8% of GDP on average).
March 2024 | Agri Review
01
April
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In June 2023, responding to appeals from the Georgian Flour Producers Association, the Georgian government imposed a temporary import duty on wheat flour imported from Russia. This advocacy by the Association began after Russia implemented a “floating tariff” on wheat in 2021, making wheat imports more expensive compared to wheat flour.
December 2023 | Agri Review
29
December
2023
Citrus production in Georgia is currently experiencing a declining trend, despite the implementation of a tangerine state subsidy program. Under the program, farmers receive 30 instead of 15 tetri for 1 kg of non-standard (low-quality) tangerines.
September 2023 | Agri Review
29
September
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Rtveli 2023 commenced this August. Similar to previous years, the Government of Georgia (GoG) is subsidizing the grape harvest again to support farmers who have suffered from worsening climate conditions. Based on information from MEPA representatives, the subsidy's primary aim is to guarantee that even producers with lower-quality grapes can still sell their products.
June 2023 | Agri Review
30
June
2023
In June 2023, the National Statistics Office of Georgia issued its annual publication on the agricultural sector – Agriculture of Georgia 2022. The publication estimates that agriculture, forestry, and fishing comprised 7.5% of the GDP (constant prices) in 2022, which is lower than the 8% share in 2021, but in line with general trends over the last few years (agricultural GDP being 7-8% of GDP on average).
