Poland seeks to avert Kazakhstan ban on apple imports
Poland has opened talks with Kazakhstan after Astana signaled a possible ban on apple imports to protect its domestic market. Polish agri-food exports to Kazakhstan were worth nearly €107 million last year, with apples among the leading products.
Warsaw intervenes over possible apple ban
Poland’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is seeking to preserve access to Kazakhstan for Polish apples and other agri-food products after Astana signaled that it could restrict apple imports. State Secretary Jacek Czerniak raised the issue during a meeting with Kazakhstan’s deputy ambassador to Poland, Erzhan Zharylkanov, held at the Polish side’s initiative.
The talks concern a commercially significant relationship. Polish agri-food exports to Kazakhstan were worth nearly €107 million last year, according to the ministry figures reported by Portal Spożywczy and Farmer.pl. Apples remain one of Poland’s most important products in that trade, and Czerniak described Poland as a key supplier helping to meet Kazakhstan’s import demand.
Poland disputes economic and phytosanitary grounds
The Polish ministry warned that a ban could cause losses not only for growers and exporters in Poland but also for buyers in Kazakhstan. Warsaw considers the proposed measure economically unjustified and says there are no substantive grounds for introducing it. Czerniak also said Kazakhstan had not notified Poland of any cases in which shipped apples failed to comply with Kazakh phytosanitary requirements.
That distinction is important for market participants. A restriction introduced to address documented plant-health problems would have a different commercial basis from a measure intended to support domestic suppliers. The information presented by the two sides indicates that Kazakhstan’s proposal is based on market protection rather than reported problems with Polish fruit.
Kazakhstan points to domestic market protection
Zharylkanov said the planned ban was intended to protect Kazakhstan’s domestic market and was not directed against any particular country. He also noted that Kazakhstan had imposed a similar restriction in October 2024. The deputy ambassador undertook to pass Poland’s arguments and concerns to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Agriculture, but the reports did not specify when Astana might decide on the measure or what duration and product scope it could have.
For Polish suppliers, the lack of a stated timetable leaves uncertainty over future shipments and sales planning. Kazakhstan’s rationale also suggests that compliance with phytosanitary rules alone may not be enough to retain access. Importers and other buyers in Kazakhstan could meanwhile face a narrower choice of suppliers if the restriction proceeds, although the source material provides no estimate of the volumes affected or the potential price impact.
Animal products and transit also on agenda
The meeting went beyond apples. Polish officials also pressed for the removal of Kazakh restrictions covering selected products of animal origin, including both imports into Kazakhstan and transit through its territory to other markets in the region. Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Katarzyna Wawrzak presented Poland’s requests in detail, while Czerniak called for more intensive dialogue between the veterinary authorities of the two countries.
Zharylkanov agreed that specialist-level veterinary discussions should continue. The immediate focus, however, remains the possible apple ban because the fruit is a flagship Polish agri-food export to Kazakhstan. The diplomatic exchange has kept negotiations open, but no withdrawal or modification of the planned restriction was announced.
