MOSCOW, 4 October (BelTA) - The Eurasian Economic Union is 93% of self-sufficiency in food, Armen Harutyunyan, Director of the Agricultural Policy Departmentof the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), told a press conference in Moscow on 4 October, BelTA has learned.
"Over the past few years, the level of self-sufficiency of the EAEU countries has grown and reached almost 93%,” Armen Harutyunyan said. “We can say that for the most part we are 93% food self-sufficient. We are still struggling in some areas such as fruits, vegetables and berries."
Armen Harutyunyan said that this year the EEC together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working on the comprehensive recommendations on the use of state support measures and other tools to stimulate vegetable growing and fruit growing. "We have already evaluated the proposed tools to increase the production of fruits and berries," he said.
"Dynamics shows that in the next few years the food security of the EAEU will improve," the head of the department emphasized.
Armen Harutyunyan recalled that the EEC Council has recently approved general principles and approaches to food security in the EAEU. The document has formalized the commitments of the member states towards higher food security in the EAEU through their own production of agricultural products and food, maximizing the potential of mutual trade, reducing dependence on import of materials and resources from third countries for the agricultural industry.
The head of the department also noted that over the past year, the EEC did a lot of work to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the agricultural sector. "We have done a good job in terms of ensuring food security of our countries. We are now working towards improving the efficiency and sustainability of this sector," he said. In particular, measures are being taken to ensure the smooth operation of food delivery infrastructure during the pandemic.
