W. European potato commission’s warning about Polish potatoes unfounded?

After a record Polish potato harvest, with an increase in production of 35% compared to last year, there is great potential for the oversupply to help fill the gaps in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and France, where growers are experiencing lower production, due a bad harvest because of dry conditions at the end of the summer and autumn. Unfortunately this potential has been met with resistance from countries with the shortages. Belgapom and the NAO recently issued guidelines for importers in Belgium and the Netherlands, respectively, warning them against the risk of importing Polish potatoes. “The official message was to be careful, but the underlying message seemed to be ‘don’t do it’. Some doubts were raised about procedures in Poland and that the trucks might not be clean.” shared Lukasz Ostrowicz from Polish potato supplier Bugaj. More