MINSK, 10 March (BelTA) – Russia accounted for more than 70% of Belarus' food export in 2020, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry following a joint online meeting of the collegiums of the agriculture ministries of the two countries.
“Russia is not only Belarus' important strategic partner, but also our brotherly nation, we share history, culture, and traditions. The trade and economic cooperation plays a special role in advancing integration, being an important area of bilateral relations,” Belarusian Agriculture and Food Minister Ivan Krupko noted.
Russia's share in Belarus' food export in 2020 equaled 74.4%. Russia also accounted for 33.6% of Belarus' food import, up by 1.8% year-on-year. According to the demand and supply balance sheets for milk and dairy products, meat and meat products in the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the countries met their export targets for 2020.
In 2020, Belarus-Russia trade in agricultural and food products totaled $5.7 billion, down by 2.8% over 2019. Export of Belarusian food products to Russia came at $4.3 billion. Belarus imported $1.4 billion worth of agricultural products from Russia in 2020. The two countries trade not only in traditional products, such as meat, dairy, and crop products, but also in high-technology goods. They include seeds, planting material, pedigree stock, plant protection products, veterinary medicines, feed additives, and modern farm machinery.
According to the Belarusian and Russian agriculture ministers, the decline in trade was temporary and was caused by external reasons, primarily the coronavirus pandemic that affected almost all economic sectors. “We will advance out trade cooperation even more in the future. Our ministries have been in contact all the time, discussing the current agenda. Thanks to this, we arrived at a compromise on several important issues last year. For example, we reconciled trade balance sheets for agricultural products for 2021 and looked into further integration in the agricultural industry in the Union State,” Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said.
The ministers pointed out the necessity to increase mutual trade in agricultural and food products and instructed departments of the ministries to step up work in this field.
In 2020, Belarus and Russia implemented several decisions of the joint meeting of the collegiums in 2019. In August 2020, the Veterinary and Food Oversight Department of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry and the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of Russia worked out a mechanism of interaction between their information systems to control transportation of Belarusian products bound for the EAEU member states. The appropriate pilot project will be launched in March 2021.
Work is also underway to align the countries' information systems in the field of plant quarantine. According to specialists, the integration of the two systems will be completed before the deadline set by the High-Level Group of the Council of Ministers of the Union State of Belarus and Russia.
In addition, Belarus and Russia also cooperate in introducing mandatory marking of some types of dairy products, hold consultations, and work out harmonized solutions in line with the agenda of the Eurasian Economic Commission.
