World meat industry news

Russia, which is a major world food exporter, does not intend to leave this market. This was stated in an interview with TASS by Deputy Minister of Economic Development Vladimir Ilyichev, who heads the Russian delegation at the 12th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that opened on Sunday in Geneva.

“As a major supplier of food on the world market, we intend to continue to remain on it, to supply our products to partners, our traditional consumers, and we are ready to take all the actions available to us for this, which we have repeatedly stated. But in order for the system to work, it is necessary so that all participants in the process strive for results," the head of the delegation said.

The topic of food supplies will be discussed at the current WTO conference. However, views on the causes of the food crisis "differ significantly," Ilyichev continued. Russia proceeds from the fact that the reasons for the rise in food prices on the world market "are largely related to inflation, which was caused by the injection of money not backed by goods to eliminate the consequences of the pandemic in developed countries." “Even last year, there were big problems with the level of prices for wheat and some other goods. This, of course, is also connected with the destruction of supply chains during the pandemic, but now, unfortunately, sanctions, in fact, a war have been superimposed on this,” continued Deputy Minister - When they try to blame us for the food crisis and its possible intensification in the foreseeable future, we say: "Gentlemen, first eliminate the consequences that you yourself artificially create by breaking supply chains, preventing the transport of grain and insurance of food transportation" .

"We do not really expect that some solution [of the food problem] will be found at the WTO platform," the agency's interlocutor said. He drew attention to the fact that at the time of the discussion of this issue at a number of other international platforms, the European Union adopted the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, and one of the largest banks in the country, Rosselkhozbank, was disconnected from the SWIFT system. "How then should food supplies be carried out at all, if it becomes extremely difficult to pay for it," the head of the delegation said.

According to the deputy minister, the topic of anti-Russian sanctions "obviously will be discussed in different formats" at the current WTO conference. At the same time, representatives of Western countries, apparently, will again try at the forum to present the problems that have arisen on world markets as a consequence of Russia's actions. "We do not agree with this. We are trying to calmly explain that we intend to continue participating in the international trade system," Ilyichev explained. Russia "is not going to shut itself off from the world and break traditional ties." Moscow still sees "an advantage in participating in international trade and the division of labor."

Answering the question whether Western countries should be expected to try to use the WTO platform to impose, as they do in other international organizations, a politicized discussion about events in Ukraine, Ilyichev said: "Yes, we proceed from the fact that [they] will be here make exactly the same speeches that they have been making in recent months, but in our opinion, now it is necessary to agree on a return to the normal application of the rules of trade. The sanctions policy of the states included by Russia in the list of unfriendly, in fact, destroys this system, the Deputy Minister stated. Moscow believes that "it is necessary to discuss how to preserve this system, because no one will benefit from the breakup of the world into blocs."

The Russian delegation is scheduled to have a number of bilateral meetings in Geneva. "We have a busy program, meetings with colleagues from different countries - with those with whom we continue active cooperation, we are looking for how to maintain our economic ties, improve them in some way, intensify them, and resolve the problems of breaking supply chains," he said. head of the delegation. The sanctions policy of the West, he stressed, creates not only problems, but also opens up new opportunities for Russia. "In order to use these opportunities, we will talk here with those who are ready to talk with us," Ilyichev stressed.

For Russia at the current WTO conference, "a number of topics are relevant," the agency's interlocutor continued. This is "both the agreement on fisheries, and the reform of agriculture, and what the WTO will do in connection with the consequences of the pandemic, and changing the rules to be ready for such situations in the future." Among the important issues for the Russian Federation is the reform of the WTO, including its dispute resolution system.

At the same time, the head of the Russian delegation refrained from making predictions about the possible results of the forum. "It's hard to say now what decisions will be made at the conference," he said. In particular, there is no clarity on the possible outcome of the discussion on the removal of fishing subsidies in order to save fish stocks from depletion. "It is impossible to say for certain what will happen to the topic of fishing," Ilyichev noted. He recalled that the current conference is not the first attempt to reach an agreement on fisheries in the WTO, and in the past "at the last moment, such a consensus fell apart on some key elements."