Over 70% of Belarusian food exports in 2020 came from Russia

March 10, MINSK. More than 70% of Belarusian food exports in 2020 came from RUSSIA, BelTA learned from the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food following a joint meeting of the collegiums of the agricultural departments of the two countries via videoconference.

"Russia is not only an important geostrategic partner for Belarus, but also a fraternal people with common roots, culture and traditions. Trade and economic cooperation, as an important area of ​​bilateral cooperation, plays a special role in strengthening integration processes," said the Minister of Agriculture and Food of Belarus Ivan Krupko.

The share of Russia in the structure of EXPORT deliveries in 2020 amounted to 74.4%, and the share of Russian products in the total volume of imports of food products to Belarus - 33.6% and increased by 1.8 percentage points. Monitoring of the predicted balances of supply and demand of the Union State for MILK and dairy products, MEAT and meat products showed that Belarus and Russia as a whole fulfilled their supply plans in 2020.

The trade turnover of agricultural products and food products between the two countries in 2020 amounted to $5.7 billion and decreased by 2.8% compared to 2019. The export of Belarusian food to Russia amounted to $4.3 billion. Agricultural products worth $1.4 billion were imported from the Russian Federation to Belarus in 2020. Not only traditional goods, such as meat and dairy products, crop products, are traded between the two countries, but also high-tech products. These are seeds and planting material, breeding stock, plant protection products, veterinary drugs and feed additives, modern agricultural equipment.

According to the heads of agricultural departments, the decline in trade turnover is temporary and is due to external factors, primarily the CORONAVIRUS pandemic, which has affected almost all sectors of the economy. “In the future, bilateral trade cooperation will develop even more actively. Our ministries, as before, are in constant contact and discuss topical issues. Thanks to this, a compromise was reached last year on a number of important issues. In particular, the balances of agricultural products supplies for the current year and worked out the main directions for further integration through the agro-industrial complex in the Union State," said Russian Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev.

The heads of agricultural departments noted the need to increase mutual trade in agricultural products and food products and instructed the structural divisions of the ministries to intensify work in this direction.

Over the past year, a number of decisions adopted following the results of the joint board of ministries in 2019 have been implemented. Thus, in August 2020, the Department of Veterinary and Food Supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and ROSSELKHOZNADZOR determined a mechanism for the interaction of information systems that makes it possible to control the movement of regulated products from Belarus to recipients from the EAEU countries. A corresponding pilot project will be launched in March this year.

The Parties are also actively working on the integration of information systems in the field of plant quarantine. According to experts, the process of integrating the two systems will be completed within the time frame determined by the decision of the High-Level Group of the Council of Ministers of the Union State.

In addition, cooperation between departments has been organized in relation to the mandatory labeling of certain types of dairy products introduced in the Russian Federation, consultations are being conducted promptly and agreed decisions are being developed on the agenda of the Eurasian Economic Commission.