WTO Russia

Poland’s Ministry of Economy sends formal complaint on Russia to WTO

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Poland’s official document contains a formal complaint on Russia for its recent bans that it has placed on the “agricultural imports from countries that have placed sanctions on Russia”, according to information published in a report by ITAR-TASS, quoting the official information of Poland’s Ministry of Economy.

The complaint refers to the decision of Russian authorities to impose bans on goods produced in the European Union.

Poland’s Minister of Agriculture, Marek Savitsky, on August 12, said that losses to the country’s agricultural sector as a result of Russia’s sanctions could amount to a sum of 750 million euros.

Last year, the monetary volume of shipments to Russia reached 1.3 billion Euros. An earlier summary of losses for the Fruit and Vegetable sector of Poland was valued at less than 500 million euros.

www.fruitnews.info

Many of Russian State Standards will be replaced with WTO-regulations

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From 2013, due to the entry of Russia  into the WTO and its inclusion into the Customs Union, a technical regulation is getting into force in Russia, which establishes mandatory requirements for many types of products.

Thus, in June technical regulations of the Customs Union will be issued, on food safety, its labeling and other aspects of the production, processing and marketing.

In Russia, many qualitative indices of fruit and vegetable products are fixed in state standards, which from summer 2013 will become the evidence base for adopted technical regulations.

Source: www.fruitnews.ru

Russia considers organic move

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Attracted by opportunities on the EU market, Russian authorities are increasing support for the country’s organic farmers

Russia’s ministry of agriculture is investigating the possibility of becoming a supplier of organic products within the scope of the World Trade Organisation, according to a report from Pravda.

Lawmakers in the country are reportedly working on a bill, due to be handed over to the ministry this month, to support the production of organic agricultural products for the EU market.

They have provided a system of certification of environmentally friendly products, credits, subsidies, insurance and support, with small and medium-sized businesses that provide services to organic producers also receiving state aid.

Organic farmers promised to reduce costs on their products and use Russia’s participation in the WTO to enter the EU market with their products, Pravda reported.

In 2011, the Russian market of organic products was estimated at €46m-€62m, less than 0.1 per cent of all food consumed in the country.

Only 10 per cent of all organic products on the Russian market is produced by domestic farmers, with most coming from Germany.

Russia has become the main market for Spanish fruit and vegetables

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The integration of Russia to the World Trade Organization (WTO) came into effect on August 22 after 18 years of negotiations. Russia has become the main market for the export of fruit and vegetables from Spain.

Exports of fruits and vegetables from Spain to Russia in 2011 stood at 243,027 tons, 47% more than in 2010, making Russia the first non-EU member market for Spanish fruit and vegetables. Spanish vegetable export to Russia in 2011 reached 35,276 tons compared to 23,877 tons in 2010, 48% more, due to increased exports of cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce. Fruit shipments totalled 207,751 tons, compared to 141,259 tons in 2010, 47% more. Peaches, nectarines and tangerines were the most imported fruit by Russia from Spain.

In 2011 Russia accounted for 30% of total exports from Spain to countries outside the EU, which stood at 814,896 tons.

For 2012 Russia still remains the main destination of Spanish fruit and vegetable exports, since in February shipments grew 50% compared to the same months of 2011, totalling 47,362 tons, according to the latest information updated by the Department of Customs and Excise Tax Agency, processed by FEPEX. After the final integration of Russia in the WTO, there is concern from FEPEX to establish an adequate policy to maintain the good performance of exports of fruits and vegetables.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Customs union reduces tariffs for some products

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23 August new import customs duties were introduced, they were changed because of Russia’s accession to the WTO. The first change concerns only 10% of tariffs – mostly duties on meat and dairy products, on fruit and vegetables, as well as cars.

Russia is one of the largest importers of apples and after accession to the WTO import duties on these fruits were significantly reduced. The duty on apples will be 0.06 euro per 1 kg. It will be applied for one year.

At the same time, Russia’s entry into the WTO will not change the import duty on pears, it will remain 10%. In 2015 it will be reduced by 5%.

Import duties on apricots, cherries, plums will remain 5%, and on strawberry – 10%. Also, the zero import duty on nectarines, peaches, kiwi will be kept.

Russia’s accession to the WTO will not change duties on bananas, they will remain 5%, but not less than 0.02 euro per 1 kg. The duty on orange , grapefruit and other citrus fruits will also remain the same – 5%, but not less than 0.02 euro per 1 kg, the same is for mandarins, clementines, and others (5%, but not less than 0.03 euro).

At the same time the duty on lemons and limes will decrease from 5%, but not less than 0.035 euro, up to 5%, but not less than 0.02 euro per 1 kg.

Source: www.retailer.ru

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Russian Fish Processing To Adopt International Quality Standards

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Expected Russia’s joining the WTO cannot but affect its fishing industry. However, this will not force any significant changes into operation of coastal fishing companies, since they deliver their whole catch to domestic ports for its further processing or sale in domestic market. But for those Russian fishing companies that export their products to European countries the changes associated with entry into the WTO are crucial, and they shall prepare themselves to many new things.

It’s claimed that joining the WTO will enable Russian fishing companies to trade their products on equal terms with other EU countries. But the problem is that there are concerns related to lower competitiveness of domestic fish products since not all Russian products meet high European standards. Closely working with Russian fish suppliers that have relevant European certificates, I know that at many other enterprises certain EU regulations are not met. Many companies are not ready to introduce and adopt international standards, so it will take some time till they will be allowed to enter the European market with their products.

It is also worth noting that in order to gain from joining the WTO, Russian enterprises should increase volumes of deeply processed products, which will provide the biggest added value.

Source: www.superocean.net

Affect of Russia’s accession to the WTO on fish import duties

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Due to Russia’s accession to the WTO, nearly all categories of fish and seafood will see a reduction in tariffs, although reductions may not occur immediately with accession.

Frozen, fresh and chilled fish (excluding filets) will see reduced tariffs between 2013 and 2017. The pre-accession applied bound rate is currently 10 per cent; the final bound rate is expected to fall between eight and three per cent depending on species. For salmon and trout fillets, the final bound rate is expected to be four per cent by 2016, and for cod fillets, to five per cent by 2015.

Tariffs on frozen hake and pollock fillets will fall to seven per cent by 2014. For crustaceans, the tariff on whole lobsters will fall from 10 to only five per cent with this change occurring by 2015 for frozen and by 2016 for live lobsters. For non-whole frozen lobsters the tariff will fall from 10 to eight per cent by 2013.

For frozen shrimps and prawns, the current tariff will fall to between five and three per cent by 2014-2015 depending on variety. For frozen crabs, it will fall from 10 to five per cent by 2015-2016 depending on variety. For mollusks, the pre-accession applied/post-accession bound rate will fall to seven per cent by 2015 for oysters, for scallops to six per cent by 2015 and for mussels to five or six per cent by 2016-2017 depending on variety.

Source: www.thefishsite.com

WTO accession should lower prices for consumer

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It is hard to find more solid proof of capitalism’s victory in Russia than the upward trajectory of its consumer market. If the supremacy of manufacturing is no longer recognized as the core imperative for a healthy economy, Russia can claim to be one of the world’s most advanced countries. It has now become Europe’s largest consumer market – retail trade generates a quarter of gross domestic product. In the past 10 years, personal consumption has been stubbornly overtaking production, and the gap between domestic supply and demand is increasingly being filled by imports. By all estimates, whether or not Russia joins the World Trade Organization, this gap will remain; the question, however is how the WTO will affect its size.

Russia has already become a part of the global market without the membership. To see how it belongs to world economy in terms of satisfying consumer needs, it is only necessary to look at one of the best consumer market mirrors – retail hypermarkets.

The rapid development of organized retail trade in Russia is an economic phenomenon that by itself proves the wonders market forces can do when they are not overregulated by red tape. The increase of personal incomes beginning in the last 1990s combined with a growth in domestic fixed capital outlays resulted in an explosion of organized retail trade, starting in Moscow and St. Petersburg and then extending to the rest of the country. In the last 10 years, retail trade in Russia has attracted over $20 billion of direct foreign investment.

It’s likely that with Russia’s accession to the WTO, price and availability of these imported goods will improve, to the benefit of Russian consumers. On a recent trip to the market, Auchan customers seemed more concerned with the price and accessibility of their purchases than their provenance. Potatoes from the Ryazan region, not far from Moscow were cheaper than potatoes from Israel, Egypt or Saudi Arabia, but they were also packed in a less-convenient way, which kept them on the shelves longer. The Russian garlic was offered in kilogram packs each priced at 107 rubles while more popular Chinese garlic was sold in packages of three cloves in small knitted bags for 18 rubles. Perhaps WTO access will also allow Russian suppliers to benefit from the marketing tools employed by their foreign counterparts.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Lamy hails Russia’s WTO accession ratification

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23 July Director-General Pascal Lamy welcomed ratification by the Russian government of the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization and said he looked forward to Russia taking a seat next month at the table of trading nations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law 21 July Parliamentary legislation bringing Russia’s trading laws into compliance with the international standards set under the WTO. The presidential approval follows passage of accession implementation legislation 18 July by the Federal Council, the upper house of Parliament and by the lower house, the Duma, on 10 July. 23 July Russia officially notified the WTO Secretariat that the ratification process was completed thereby clearing the way for the country to become the organization’s 156th member on 22 August.

“It has been a long road to reach this destination but today, Russia has cleared the final hurdle and on 22 August it will take its rightful place at the table with family of trading nations, becoming the WTO  156th member. I look forward to Russia joining us next month,” said Mr. Lamy.

In 2011, Russia was the world’s ninth largest exporter, shipping $522 billion in goods and $54 billion in services to its trading partners. Last year, Russians imported $323 billion in goods and $90 billion in services.

Source: www.wto.org

What can we expect for the apples market after Russia’s accession to the WTO?

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According to the WTO agreements, duties for almost all kinds of fruit and vegetable production in Russia will decrease greatly after Russia’s accession to the WTO, while, according to some

unconfirmed information, the duties for apples may become almost two times less.

However, the European exporters comment the advantages of  Russia’s membership in the WTO with caution. Suppliers say that the price will depend on the reference prices, which will be established by the customs. Besides, there are many predictions about the devaluation of the ruble.

Source: www.fruitnews.ru