Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization, which was made official today (22 August), is expected to bring about a sharp increase in imports of fresh produce into the country as tariffs are lowered, with some predicting imported volumes will as much as 15-18 per cent during the 2012/13 season.
Speaking in the September issue of Eurofruit, Andriy Yarmak of sector analyst Fruit-Inform said the impact of Russia's WTO membership might be seen relatively soon.
'The largest impact would be on the traditional fruits, such as apples, which were always more protected,' he told the magazine, adding that it would most likely become more difficult for authorities to ban outright imports from certain countries.
Despite believing that Russia would continue to use non-tariff barriers to protect certain domestic producers, Yarmak suggested the accession was 'very good news for international suppliers and not such good news for Russian growers'.
Ksenia Gorovaya of Crisp Consulting, a specialist in Russian food marketing and logistics, agreed non-tariff barriers would not disappear overnight but equally would be harder to implement.
'Control is still very unpredictable. From time to time there is news that this or that country of origin has been banned,' she said.
'Most recently it was Turkey. Accession into the WTO is expected to prevent the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Service from implementing unpredictable bans.'
Alberto Maiorana, an Italian consultant specialising in the Russian fruit market, sought to downplay any over-excitement about Russia's market becoming more open, telling Eurofruit he thought the market was more likely to evolve slowly.
'Russian access to the WTO is certainly quite important and historical,' he commented. However, that doesn't mean that customs and other regulations will be fully and immediately abolished, but reduced and simplified over the next few years.'
To read the full story, as well as other news articles and interviews from across the European fresh produce business, order your copy of the September issue of Eurofruit by contacting:
Violet Kazandzhieva
+44 20 7501 3714
subscriptions@fruitnet.com
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