World meat industry news

Duties from the European Union (EU) on some agricultural products from Russia and Belarus to the territory of the bloc countries have come into force. TASS reports this with reference to the relevant resolution from the Council of the EU.

In particular, for grain alone, tariffs can reach up to half the market value of each individual crop. Let us recall that trade restrictions concern two main grain crops (wheat and corn), and all major oilseeds, as well as their processed products and various types of feed. Their possible introduction starting this month was discussed at the end of May at the European Commission. At the same time, different measures were talked about for each crop. For example, it was planned to introduce a fixed rate on wheat of half the cost for each batch, and on other types of products - a tax that could amount to up to 95 euros per ton, depending on the specific product supplied to the countries of the bloc. In essence, such large duties are prohibitive in nature.

The EC explained this decision with plans to destabilize the economic situation in both countries. They hope that this will seriously reduce the demand for the above-mentioned agricultural products and will force Russian and Belarusian exporters to look for alternative markets. In this way, the European authorities want to punish Russia for launching the SVO in Ukraine, and Belarus for supporting such a decision by Russia. Also, in essence, this measure will ensure at least minor supplies of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU territory, despite the early overstocking of Eastern Europe with it, which caused discontent among local farmers.

The head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergei Dankvert, commented on the decision. In his opinion, such a measure will primarily hit the food and port industries of Europe itself. He noted that European countries seriously need Russian durum grain. This is especially true, as he recalled, for Italy and Spain. For example, in the first of the countries it is used to produce the main food product in the country - pasta. Dankvert noted that other alternatives to Russian grain will cost Europeans more. He also did not rule out that Europe may lose port capacity for grain, which has already been lost for fertilizers. According to him, sanctions will not have much impact on Russia, since it can find other markets.