Meat industry to enlist help of lobbyists

Meat processors are going through a difficult period because of a crisis in their raw materials. Moreover, they’re facing the prospect of tough competition following Romania’s EU integration. As a result, they plan to hire lobby firms to ease their entry onto the single European market. “We want to seal a contract with a lobbying firm with whom we will analyse the European market, find market niches after Romania’s integration and spot financing opportunities,” says Teodor Apostol, chairman of charcuterie producer Kosarom Pascani, one of the top ten meat producers. He says that firms and professional associations in this domain in Hungary and Poland took similar steps prior to EU integration. “The Romanian food industry is currently not prepared from a commercial point of view, considering the huge trade deficit relating to food products,” Apostol stated. ZF