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Bulgaria is a small but growing market for U.S. food and agricultural products. In 2021, total Bulgarian food and agricultural imports were valued at $6.13 billion, up 18 percent from 2020, of which 1.3 percent, or $80.13 million, were sourced from the United States. During the first eight months of 2022, total food and agricultural imports increased by 45.3 percent compared to the same period in 2021.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bulgaria was a growing market for food and beverages, with rising consumer confidence, declining unemployment, increasing incomes, and a stable number of foreign tourists driving expansion.

The tree nut market in Bulgaria had a slow, but stable recovery in marketing year (MY) 2021/22 due to reopening of the food service industry and an improved tourist and travel season. However, economic challenges, food inflation, and high energy prices have negatively affected the demand for higher-end nuts.

Bulgaria acceded to the European Union (EU) in 2007 and follows EU directives and regulations pertaining to food safety, quality, and standards. This report outlines legislation regarding U.S. food-product exports to Bulgaria, particularly those rules which differ from EU legislation.

As a European Union (EU) Member State, Bulgaria applies EU regulatory requirements for all animal- and plant-origin food and agricultural imports. Bulgarian regulatory authorities may be consulted, on a case-by-case basis, regarding import requirements for some categories of non-harmonized products.

Orange production is expected to decline in Australia in marketing year (MY) 2022/23 to 505,000 metric tons (MT) from an estimated 535,000 MT in MY 2021/22. However, exports are forecast to rise to 180,000 MT from an estimated 145,000 MT in MY 2021/22, due to an anticipated substantial improvement in fruit quality.

Ethanol consumption in Australia is forecast to remain stable in 2022 at only 1.1 percent of the gasoline pool, and biodiesel is forecast to increase moderately from very low levels but remain at less than 0.1 percent of the total diesel pool. Australia has very large feedstock (grains and molasses) supplies for bioethanol as well as robust supplies of feedstock (canola, tallow and used cooked oil) for biodiesel production.

In 2021 and 2022 to date, the Bulgarian livestock industry has successfully recovered following the 2019 African Swine Fever (ASF) crisis. The major challenges in 2021/2022 were related to sharply increasing feed grain and energy prices, skyrocketing inflation, and fluctuations in consumer demand related to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

Bulgarian fish and seafood importers are seeking to expand the variety of locally available fish, particularly among the mid and high-value categories. According to the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute (NSI), which measures trade data based on country of origin, and therefore captures U.S. trade routed through other European ports of entry, Bulgaria imported $166,000 of U.S. fish and seafood in 2021, up 29 percent from the difficult 2020, but significantly lower than the pre-COVID levels of $554,656 in 2019.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s bulk, intermediate, and consumer-oriented (BICO) export data tracks U.S. food and agricultural trade shipped directly to Bulgaria. However, it does not measure the substantial levels of the U.S. agricultural trade to Bulgaria routed through Western European ports of entry. According to BICO, U.S. suppliers shipped $28.1 million of U.S. food and agriculture to Bulgaria in 2021.

Bulgaria’s poultry sector had a recovery period in marketing year (MY) 2021 with slight growth. Despite sharply increased feed prices, the pandemic’s negative impact on the hospitality and tourism sectors has waned and the export market has slightly improved. This led to an increase in poultry inventory, and higher poultry and broiler meat output.

The Bulgarian dairy industry faced significant challenges in Marketing Year (MY) 2021 with the national dairy herd, cow milk production and collection, as well as processing contracting. A dry and hot summer, combined with increasing feed grain prices, inflation pressure (especially of energy supply), and a labor deficit led to a decline in the number of dairy farms and stocks. Consolidation and restructuring of the industry continued through the dominating role of larger, more efficient dairy operations.