The Effects of Foreign Agri-food Trade Liberalization in South East Europe
The Effects of Foreign Agri-food Trade Liberalization in South East Europe

Summary/Abstract: Market liberalization in the countries of South East Europe (SEE), which was a consequence of free trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and the countries of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), led to changes in foreign trade flows of these countries’ agri-food products. As agri-food products are a significant part of total foreign trade in these countries, the objective of this paper is to analyze the liberalization effects established by CEFTA and EU integration. A gravity model for panel data was estimated for the agri- -food sector of all SEE countries for the period 2005 – 2015, and databases from UN Comtrade and the World Bank were used to create an empirical base for this study. The results confirmed the importance of CEFTA integration, which made a significant contribution to imports and exports within this sector in most SEE countries. Additionally, the results showed that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU had limited effects on the import and export of agri-food products in SEE countries.

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