The Relevance of the EU Entry Price System for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Exports from China to the EU

China’s exports of apples and pears to the EU are increasing, although EU imports are restricted by the EU entry price system (EPS). The EPS aims to prevent imports below the entry price, which acts as a minimum import price, to protect EU growers of apples and pears. This study investigates the restrictiveness of the EPS for Chinese exports of apples and pears to the EU. Results suggest that the high effectiveness of the EPS for apples originating in China limits to the years 2003, 2004 and 2005. For pears originating in China, our results indicate that the EPS is relevant throughout the whole period underlying this analysis, with the highest relevance prevailing in 2004, 2005 and 2006. In the future, the relevance of the EPS is expected to decline