OSLO: The price difference for minced beef between Norway and the EU has increased by 80 percent since 1994. For powdered milk, the difference has doubled while the price gap on cheese has increased by 61 percent, figures from the Norwegian Institute for Bio-economy (NIBIO) showed.
“Norwegian commodity prices are going up while EU prices are either flat or increasing only slightly. The difference increases over time for the most important goods, such as dairy and meat products,” NIBIO consultant Stine Evensen Sørbye told Nationen.
“When the price gap increases it requires that the industry be subsidised more in order to use Norwegian goods,” she added.
Processed agricultural commodities like pizza, baked goods and soups have significantly lower tariffs than agricultural goods and are subject to much greater international competition within the Norwegian market.
Under Norway’s agriculture agreement, money is appropriated every year to help even out the difference on raw goods between Norway and the EU. Last year, some 169 million kroner was spent in support of price depreciation and since 2010 the total has been around 900 million kroner.
