Tariff relief for duty-free import of potatoes will be increased to 300 thousand tons

The tariff exemption for duty-free import of potatoes will be increased to 300 thousand tons, the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture reported on April 23.

" This year, in order to provide additional support to the Russian market, a tariff exemption was established for duty-free import of imported potatoes with a volume of no more than 150 thousand tons intended for retail sale or processing. Taking into account the fact that the Republic of Kazakhstan has imposed a ban on the export of potatoes from the country, at the moment, the EEC is agreeing on a decision to increase the tariff relief for the Russian Federation to 300 thousand tons. This measure, valid until July 31, 2025, will completely close domestic needs before the arrival of a new crop and will favorably affect the price situation," — the ministry reported.

They also noted that in order to increase their own production this year, it is planned to increase the area under potatoes to 286.3 thousand hectares. In most regions of Russia, the planting of crops has already started, and work is currently progressing ahead of last year's pace. As of April 23, potatoes were planted on 41.4 thousand hectares (in 2024 – 35.9 thousand hectares). In general, with favorable weather conditions, a decent potato harvest is expected in 2025.

"It is worth noting that in order to ensure a stable price situation in the food market, Government Decree No. 662 of March 26, 2023 provides for the conclusion by state authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation of voluntary agreements with business entities on fixing the maximum allowable retail prices for products included in the list of certain types of socially important essential foodstuffs, including potatoes.. This mechanism is being successfully applied in the regions - according to the FAS, agreements on potatoes have been concluded in 34 regions," the Ministry of Agriculture explained.

In addition, on March 1, the law on agricultural aggregators came into force, facilitating the sale of farm products to retailers. This will create comfortable conditions for small businesses to enter retail chains — additional sales channels will appear, logistics costs will decrease, which will favorably affect the formation of product prices.

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Earlier, on April 1, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Doctor of Economics Leonid Kholod told Izvestia about a possible reduction in potato prices in Russia by July. According to him, this will happen due to the appearance of its own harvest in the Russian Federation.