Turkey waived the Ban on Tomato Exports

Turkey lifted the ban on tomato exports that was introduced last week, BTA reports. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry imposed the restriction because of the unusual increase in tomato prices in the country, as well as because of the earthquake, which caused tens of billions of dollars in damage.

The imposed export restrictions were supposed to be valid until April 14. An exception was made only for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey, Palestine and Azerbaijan.

In a decision published in the Turkish state gazette, the notification by which the Ministry of Agriculture introduced the restrictions was revoked, which also lifted the ban on tomato exports.

The news about the suspended export also caused a reaction in Bulgaria, since our country is in third place in terms of tomato imports from Turkey. In 2021, Bulgaria increased the import of tomatoes from Turkey by 42% compared to 2020 to 40.96 million dollars, as a decrease in the imported quantities occurred when the control of imports through the border checkpoint "Kapitan Andreevo" was tightened.

The expectation of the industry was that the ban on the export of tomatoes could affect the price of the product and lead to its increase in price.