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Abstract
The EU protects EU growers of 15 kinds of
fresh fruits and vegetables against international competition
not only by the means of ad valorem tariffs of up to 20%,
but also by the EU entry-price system (EPS), which is
designed to restrict imports below the product-specific,
politically designated entry price level. This study
investigates the influence of the EPS on import prices of
fruits and vegetables per product and country of origin. We
utilise a unique data set comprising about 60,000
observations of daily synthetic import prices.
We develop two indicators for the effectiveness of the
EPS, which serve as variables in a cluster analysis
identifying four classes differing in the relevance of the
EPS. Results suggest that the relevance of the EPS is
heterogeneous among products as well as countries of origin
for most fruits and vegetables. Thus, an adequate
assessment of the importance of the EPS requires not only a
product-specific but also a country-specific analysis.
Overall, our results indicate that the effectiveness of the
EPS is highest for the import of artichokes, courgettes,
cucumbers, lemons, plums and tomatoes. The influence of
the EPS on apples, clementines and pears is significantly
lower, and of least relevance for EU imports of apricots,
mandarins, oranges, peaches and nectarines and table
grapes. The EPS has the greatest effect on countries which
neighbour the EU, whereas it is of minor importance for
exports from far-away countries with the exception of China
and South Africa.