Russian Food Ban

Possible end of food ban for Moldova and some other countries

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The Russian phytosanitary service is reconsidering the boycott of Moldovan cherries, plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots. The reports were confirmed by the National Agency for Food Safety in Moldova. The export could be resumed when Russian inspections have visited the Eastern European country.

Together with Belarusian colleagues, the Russian phytosanitary service is visiting companies in Lithuania. The inspections are necessary to be allowed to export to Russia. The companies involved work with animal products. For now, the boycott applies to Lithuania as it also applies to the EU. Last month, Russia inspected various companies in Hungary, Greece and Cyprus. During the inspections, it’s checked whether the conditions of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Russian criteria are adhered to.

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Russian PM Medvedev: Decision on boycott to be taken in August

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The Russian Prime Minister said again to the Russian news agency TASS that the decision on the boycott will not be taken before August. In August it will certainly be either extended, modified or lifted. “We’ll make this decision based on our national interests,” said Medvedev. “We were forced to adopt these measures due to the actions of neighbouring countries and trading partners, so it also depends on the decisions they make.” According to the Prime Minister, the measures have been positive for Russia to develop its domestic potential.

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Some products may be excluded from the embargo list

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The Russian Ministry of Economic Affairs proposes the removal of a number of products from the embargo list, instead of looking for ways to give Greece and Hungary access to the Russian market again. By removing a number of products from the embargo list, trade with these countries can be resumed in a straightforward manner. This way, Russia can prevent the violation of WTO rules. In connection with this plan, peaches, strawberries, mandarins, nectarines and cherries are named as products that could be allowed.

 www.agronews.ru

Russia’s President and Greek Prime Minister discussed how to bypass the Russian food ban

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April 8, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Moscow. Beside other economic and political issues, they discussed the Russian food ban. Putin said that Russia couldn’t make exception for one country and that ending sanctions would be the best way. Putin said that Russia could not make an exception for Greece and lift the food ban only for that country,  but there was an opportunity for compromise: to organize joint ventures of Russian and Greek companies, in this case Greek products could be imported to Russia. “It will not cause any harm to our producers, as they will be involved in the process,” – said Vladimir Putin.

www.mk.ru

 

Russia offers “green corridor” for Middle East produce

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The President of the Russian Customs Service, Andrei Belianinov, announced this Wednesday that Egypt, Jordan and Turkey have been offered the creation of a “green corridor” to facilitate the supply of fruit and vegetables from these countries to the Russian Federation.

During his speech in front of the Russian Duma, Blianinov stated that Moscow has issued the proposal to Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, as well as Azerbaijan, to facilitate the supply of perishable products and ensure their freshness on arrival.

It is worth mentioning that other countries, like Syria, also seek to create a “green corridor” with Russia, so as to facilitate the transfer of goods and agricultural products to Moscow, since the size of the Russian market is estimated at 12 billion Euro per year.

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Belarusian customs statistics: Belarus as a transit channel of banned products to Russia

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According to official data of the Belarusian National Statistics Committee in 2014, after the introduction of Russian food ban on the supply of food and agricultural products from the EU, Norway, USA, Canada and Australia in August last year, trade structure in the country changed significantly. The official data of the Belarusian customs statistics indirectly confirm that Belarus became a transit channel for import of banned products to Russia after the introduction of Russian food ban.

Belarus increased the imports of items that are in the Russian list of banned products from the countries that came under the Russian sanctions. And at the same time the export of the these types of products from Belarus to Russia increased.

While the overall Belarusian exports to Russia decreased by 8.9% in 2014 down to $ 15.3 billion, the volume of export of food and agricultural raw materials from Belarus to Russia increased significantly. The main growth was for banned goods:  the import to Russia of vegetables increased by 87.2% up to $ 262.5 million, the import of fruits by 64% up to $ 171 million, the import of fish and seafood – by 44.1% up to $ 138, 2 million.

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Russian food ban may be partially lifted

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Russia on road to partial end boycott

The Russian phytosanitary authorities have started a procedure to resume the import of animal products from Greece, Cyprus and Hungary. The Russian inspection will first visit the countries for an inspection, beginning in Greece. The visits are planned for April. Included in the list of companies to be visited are firms in Germany, France and Poland.

Agreement Albania and Russia on trade
Albania and Russia have reached an agreement on resuming Albanian export to Russia. Earlier this year, Russia denied it was working on lifting the sanctions against Albania, now the end seems in sight for the trade ban.

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EU Sanctions against Russia prolonged

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The EU leaders have decided to maintain the economic sanctions against Russia until the end of this year, as said in a statement published last week after the meeting. The sanctions are to remain in force at least until the Minsk agreements are carried out. That won’t be before the end of this year. This outcome is a compromise between proponents and opponents of the sanctions against Russia.

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Polish exports to Russia dropped by 40% after food ban

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According to the Dutch agency FVF, Poland’s fruit and vegetable exports to Russia dropped by approximately 40% last year, from 976 thousand tonnes to 561 thousand tonnes. Apples were the most affected product.

The total export of fruit and vegetables to Russia in 2014 amounted to over 561.8 thousand tonnes, of which 559.3 thousand tonnes were shipped during the first seven months of the year, before the introduction of the embargo.

This means that, between August and December, only 2.5 thousand tonnes of Polish fruits and vegetables arrived to the Russian market, compared to the 214.7 thousand tonnes shipped in the corresponding months of 2013.

Throughout 2014, Poland exported 448.9 thousand tonnes less fruit and 113.0 thousand tonnes less vegetables to Russia. Apples were the most affected. In 2014, the total export volume for this fruit amounted to 418.0 thousand tonnes, compared with the more than 580 thousand tonnes shipped a year earlier. In the period after the introduction of the embargo, only 949 tonnes were exported, compared to the 125 thousand tonnes of the previous year.

In the first seven months of 2014, fruit exports to Russia amounted to 447.8 thousand tonnes, while vegetable exports reached 111.4 thousand tonnes. Cabbages were the most exported product, followed by mushrooms and tomatoes. Besides apples, other fruits shipped to Russia included pears, strawberries and cherries.

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Russian Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service has complaints against Belarus

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Sergey Dankvert, head of the Russian Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS), proposed Leonid Zaets, minister of agriculture and provisions of Belorussia, to return to earlier opened discussions over the border monitoring. Mr Dankert proposes to jointly monitor supplies of regulated products through the external borders of the Customs Union on the Belorussian side.

Earlier Belorussian ag ministry declared that such control is possible if external borders of the whole Customs Union (located on frontiers of Kazakhstan and Russia) are monitored as well.

Starting from September 2014, VPSS has discovered 248 cases of import of quarantined products to Russia though Belorussia, total weight of which exceeded 5,000 tons.

www.tks.ru