The accession to the WTO and the Russian fishery industry

As some experts say, the accession to the WTO will not change the total amount of fish and seafood on the Russian market. And fish consumption will continue to grow, as Andrej Krajnij, head of the Federal Fishery Agency, said during the parliamentary hearings in the State Duma on June 20. Four years ago, according to the Russian Statistics Service, the average fish consumption per capita was 12.7 kilos of fish, but the last year it was 22 kilos, and by 2020 it is expected to be 23.5 kilos.

Meanwhile, people involved in the fishery industry expect that the accession to the WTO may cause some serious problems. The deterioration of fishery fleet and the fact that there are almost no facilities for new fishery boats construction and repair of old ones and other factors put the Russian fishery industry in unequal conditions with fishermen from other countries, which are WTO members. Moreover, one of the main problems is the fact that the Russian fishing industry is limited by the imperfect legal system: unreasonable restrictions, outdated legal framework prevent the fishery sector from developing. And there are some assumptions that Russia’s accession to the WTO may even damage the whole fishery industry.

Nevertheless, it is only a forecast, now there are some government programs; their goals are to create good conditions for the development of the fishing industry as an important segment of the national economy of Russia after the WTO accession.

Source: www.frozen-products.ru