More controls bore fruit

Between 2010 and 2017 the level of investment grew by 34 percent in agriculture. In 2014 the VAT on live and half pig was reduced, and one year later beef and lamb followed. In 2016 pork meat, in 2017 fresh milk, poultry and eggs saw their VAT go down; in 2018 fish came next. Introducing the 5-percent VAT rate contributed greatly to the whitening of these sectors. The Chamber of Hungarian Agriculture (NAK) opines that the VAT reduction should continue. Domestic food sales were up 2-2.5 percent in the first three quarters of 2017 – reported the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

In January 2018 the production price of agricultural raw materials augmented by 2.1 percent if compared with January 2017. Since salaries also increased, by more than 10 percent on average, it is practically sure that the competitiveness of the food industry decreased. It was an important step forward in 2015 that the Electronic Public Road Trade Control System (EKÁER) was introduced: this was great help in the fight against VAT fraud. Although the European Commission says the system violates the EU’s principle of the free movement of goods, agri-food experts told our magazine that the share of the black market used to be 20-40 percent in the sector before the EKÁER and by now this share halved. //