According to a document seen by Interfax, Russia could be set to lower the import duty on citrus products within a year of its accession to the WTO. Duties will also be lowered on mandarin oranges, lemons and limes, the document suggested.
Import duties on oranges and grapefruits, which currently stand at 5 per cent, €0.02 per kg, will be maintained until Russia joins the WTO. However, in 2013 the import duty on oranges will drop to 5 per cent but no lower than €0.017 per kg, while on grapefruits it will fall to 5 per cent but no lower than €0.015 per kg.
Between January and September this year, Russia’s citrus imports grew from 873,000 tonnes at US$730.7m to 1m tonnes at US$979.3m.
However, import duties on bananas and grapes will not change, the document said. It will be kept at its current level of 5%.
Source: www.fruitnet.com, www.freshplaza.com