This is the fruit: Russia may limit imports of fruits and berries

Imports of fruits and berries in the Russian Federation may be banned or restricted. The goal is to support domestic producers, who now seriously fall short of the indicators of the Food Security Doctrine - self-sufficiency at the level of 60% with the actual level of 47%. The State Commission on Combating Illicit Trafficking of Industrial Products, which is headed by Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, has included this proposal of the Federation Council in the draft work plan for 2025. The upper house of parliament believes that it is possible to start with apples, pears and strawberries in the season of their peak production in Russia.

What Russia imports from abroad

Officials have prepared a draft work plan of the State Commission on counteraction to illegal turnover of industrial products for this year, it is supervised by First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov. "Izvestia" familiarized with the document. The Federation Council's proposal to restrict or ban imports of fruits and berries is also one of the issues, it may be considered in the second quarter.

It is about the development of additional measures to support domestic gardeners and nursery owners, including using the mechanisms of customs and tariff regulation. The documents explain: by 2024 the Russian Federation has fulfilled most of the indicators of the Food Security Doctrine, which was approved in 2020. But there are problems with fruits and berries - self-sufficiency is 46.7% against the required 60%.

Meanwhile, according to the results of 2023 in the organized sector of fruit and berry production, the harvest increased to a record 1.9 million tons - 2% more than in 2022. But fruit imports continue to be quite high, higher than the volume of the Russian harvest. According to industry associations, as the senators pointed out, even during the mass harvest of domestic products in the country does not stop the large-scale sale of imports not always of appropriate quality.

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Restricting imports of fruits and berries can be effective in the summer and fall seasons, when farmers harvest most fruits and berries, prohibitive measures will increase demand for their products, said "Izvestia" Deputy Chairman of the SF Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Nature Management Sergei Mitin.

- The introduction of protective measures, such as import quotas and increased duties, can help protect the domestic market," he added. - Russia produces a significant amount of apples and pears, but imported fruit is still more. Restricting imports will help local growers increase their market share and improve their financial situation. In season, local berries can be tastier and healthier than imported ones: strawberries, raspberries, currants and other types of such products grown in Russia will have better quality characteristics, fresher and riper.

Now the import of fruits and berries from unfriendly countries is already banned, the Ministry of Agriculture reminded Izvestia. A complete ban on imports of these products is inexpedient taking into account the natural and climatic features of our country and the need to provide the population with food in the necessary volume, the ministry added.

"Izvestia" sent inquiries to the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Federal Customs Service, Rosselkhoznadzor.

Which fruits Russia produces independently

Any bans and restrictions on imported products risk negative consequences for consumers, who may end up with more expensive and lower-quality products on the shelves, FruitNews director Irina Koziy told Izvestia. Many imported fruits, such as those coming from Ecuador, Turkey, and China, are sold in Russia cheaper than the products of Russian producers.

- More than 70% of the domestic market of fresh fruits and berries are imported fruits. Depending on the category, this figure reaches 100%, as, for example, in the case of bananas and citrus fruits. The share of imported pears, cherries, peaches, nectarines, grapes (almost all of our grapes are used for wine) exceeds 90%. It will not be easy to replace them in the near future, even if we remove foreign competitors from the market, - said the expert.

According to her, the top products that Russia produces independently in good volumes include only apples, but even they are imported during the period from winter to mid-summer, when their own harvest is preserved only in farms with well-equipped warehouses. Some varieties of apples are not grown by Russian producers, and they are imported into Russia all year round.

According to Irina Koziy, domestic producers can be supported by other measures. For example, to remove restrictions on the supply of all necessary supplies for horticulture, which now increase the cost of production for Russian producers.

For 10 years Russian agriculture has achieved great success in import substitution of apples, pears and melons. In particular, the share of domestic apples in the assortment of retail chains has grown from 25-30% to 70-90% depending on the season, Igor Karavaev, Chairman of the Presidium of the Association of Retail Trade Companies (ACORT), told Izvestia.

The main volume of supplies falls on farms in the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories and North Ossetia, as well as medium and small farms in the central part of the Russian Federation. In summer and fall the share of domestic grapes and seasonal berries: strawberries, raspberries and blackberries increases, he specified.

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As the stock of Russian fruits and berries decreases, the share of imports starts to grow. For example, now the share of domestically produced berries in retail chains is about 10%, the rest - from Morocco, Turkey, Egypt, Peru, Lebanon, Israel. Apples and pears in spring and summer are supplied by Serbia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, stone fruits - Turkey and Uzbekistan, the expert explained.

- Import restrictions will not help to improve the situation with the supply of berries and fruits in those segments where Russian production is objectively insufficient or impossible due to the climate. For example, we cannot replace imports of bananas, citrus fruits, kiwi, avocado and in spring and summer we have to import stone fruits. Apples have the greatest potential for import substitution, - Igor Karavaev is sure.

For this purpose, producers need to develop a system of long-term storage of apples of all varieties with the fixing of supply programs to retail chains and the possibility of sales in the spring and summer months, he said. Among other measures, which will increase the representation of domestic apples and other fruits, is the systematic informing of retail chains about the balance of crop volumes in storage chambers, forecasts of their realization and data on quality, the expert added.

Consumers have maximum demand for strawberries, raspberries and blueberries regardless of the country of cultivation, said "Izvestia" in "Magnit". With the onset of the berry season, the share of imported products in the chain tends to zero and remains only where the demand cannot fully cover domestic production, for example, in blueberries.