The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) reiterates the need to reinforce strategic partnership and robust collaboration among key stakeholders to bolster local capacity to enhance Ethiopia’s horticulture global competitiveness, and particularly meeting the ever stricter EU market standards that introduce more than 100 new requirements and changes every year.
EHPEA and COLEAD today co-organized a workshop in Addis Ababa, on strengthening Ethiopia’s agri-food exports towards unlocking EU massive market opportunities.
Speaking on the occasion EHPEA Executive Director Tewodros Zewdie emphasized on robust partnerships among the public sector, private actors, development partners, and academia and research institutions to enhance the sustainability, quality, phytosanitary and competitiveness of Ethiopia’s horticulture, thereby meeting international standards and leveraging market potentials.
Stating that Ethiopia is a sleeping-giant as far as horticulture development is concerned, the Executive Director hailed the strong partnership and continued support of COLEAD in reinforcing the ongoing efforts to unleash the country’s potential in the sector.
Reiterating that EU is the largest international market for Ethiopia’s horticulture, constituting 60-70% of the country’s horti export, Tewodros noted that such workshop on agri-food export requirements, strengthened food-safety regulations and new sustainability initiatives are instrumental to elevate the capacity of member farms in particular and the country in general to properly meet the requirements and thereby exploiting the vast opportunities of the EU market.
Supported by the European Union (EU) through programs such as MAHEBER, the collaboration forged between EHPEA and COLEAD focuses on capacity building, strengthening sanitary and phytosanitary Systems (SPS) compliance, improving competitiveness, resilience and sustainability, and expanding export portfolio among others.
In his presentation on EU regulatory outlook with focus on what is changing and why it matters for Ethiopia, Chris Downes, Policy and Law Lead Expert at AGRINFO-COLEAD, says EU announces about 140 new agri-food import requirements and changes every year and calls for exporters readiness and active engagement to ensure alignment with those evolving standards.
He stated that EU has announced a series of significant updates which exporting countries need to be aware of for unlocking EU market opportunities.
The changes include 50% increase in audits on non-EU countries, new deforestation-free requirements, updated pesticide residue limits (MRLs) and stricter packaging regulations, with many taking effect as of January 2026.
As one of the speakers during the session of the panel discussion on ‘Ethiopia’s Experience in Navigating Evolving EU Requirements: Lessons, Challenges and Strategic Priority’, the EHPEA Executive Director re-emphasized on ensuring robust collaboration, supported by adequate budget and time to bring key local actors on board and create the local capacity to meet those stricter standards.
Tewodros also expressed EHPEA’s continued commitment to further strengthening the partnership with COLEAD in the arduous journey to be successful in meeting those EU requirements and exploit the huge market opportunities.
