Agri-food trade analysis: comparison of Slovenia with the nine new member states

The comparative analysis of trade with agricultural and food products of ten EU new member states (NMS), with emphasis on Slovenia, has been conducted at a highly disaggregated level. Slovenia has always been the net importer of agricultural and food products, and the same goes for the majority of ten NMS in the period analysed. For the purpose of assessing the similarities in their export structure, the export similarity index “S” has been used. By its use no signifi cant overlap of export structures between NMS is revealed, but the slightly increase in resemblance is observed from 1999 to 2003, indicating the simultaneous restructuring of NMS’ agri-food sectors. Another indicator introduced in this comparative analysis is Revealed Comparative Advantage “RCA”, measuring competitiveness through major groups of products. Slovenia has the comparative advantage in comparison with the rest of new member states in following groups of products: meat, dairy products, beverages and others. V prispevku analiziramo trgovino s kmetijskimi in živilskimi proizvodi novih članic Evropske Unije. Analiza je narejena na dezagregirani ravni podatkov po posameznih proizvodih. Slovenija je, tako kot večina desetih novih članic EU, tradicionalna neto uvoznica hrane. Za prikaz skupnih značilnosti izvoza obravnavanih držav je uporabljen “izvozni indeks” S [8]. Z uporabo indeksa S je nakazana precej različna struktura izvoza kmetijskih in živilskih proizvodov, vendar pa le-ta s časom počasi, a vztrajno vse bolj sovpada in nakazuje na obstoječe podobne procese prestrukturiranja agro-živilskih sektorjev v novih EU članicah. S pomočjo analize izvoza so prav tako opredeljene komparativne prednosti Slovenije za nekatere skupine proizvodov (meso, mlečni proizvodi, pijače in ostalo).