Russian Government Approves Draft Agreement with Belarus on Common Agricultural Policy
The agreement is based on the treaty that established the Union State on December 8, 1999. The common agricultural policy is to be implemented on the basis of harmonized legislation in the two countries. Union State bodies will participate in its development and implementation, while the terms and procedures will be determined by the agreement and legal acts adopted by the Union State. The principles set out include ensuring food security, taking account of national agricultural policy characteristics, maintaining a common agricultural market, and balancing the interests of consumers and producers. The document also provides for equal competitive conditions, measures against unfair competition, and self-sufficiency in equipment and technology for the agro-industrial sector. Free price formation is to be combined with strategic planning.
Cooperation covers nine areas. In addition to food security, these include agricultural science and innovation, regulation of the common market for food, agricultural products and raw materials, strategic planning, and digital information support. The remaining areas are training qualified specialists, supplying equipment and other production inputs, livestock breeding, and product quality and safety control. In implementing the policy, the parties will take account of seasonality, climatic and natural conditions, market conditions in each country, and the agricultural sector's role in the social life of rural areas.
The draft's objectives include achieving parity between price indices for agricultural products and the industrial goods purchased by farmers. The document provides for narrowing the gap that arises when the prices of machinery and other inputs rise faster than those of farm output. In such circumstances, the same revenue buys fewer essential goods. Approaches to achieving price parity are to be developed at a later stage while preserving free price formation.
The document identifies food independence as a guarantee of food security. It provides for measuring this through a self-sufficiency percentage: the volume of food, agricultural raw materials and agricultural products produced within the Union State is compared with domestic consumption. This calculation allows a shortfall in one country to be covered by a surplus in the other. The aim is to provide residents with affordable, high-quality food in quantities that meet the recommended consumption standards established in both countries' legislation.
Measures for the sustainable development of the agricultural sector include applying the results of basic and applied research, strengthening cooperative ties, and ensuring equal competitive conditions for farms of different sizes. Support for cooperation and assistance in accessing foreign markets are envisaged for small and medium-sized farms. Other measures concern conserving and restoring natural resources, creating productive jobs, and establishing sectoral unions and associations. Cross-sector cooperation is to focus on overcoming dependence on imported equipment and other production inputs. The distinctive features of traditional economic activities, including the subsistence activities of Indigenous peoples with small populations, are also to be taken into account.
No later than 30 working days after the agreement enters into force, the parties will establish a permanent working group to develop and implement the common policy. Deputy heads of Russia's Ministry of Agriculture and Belarus's Ministry of Agriculture and Food will serve as co-chairs. The group will include representatives of these ministries and relevant research institutions; its membership will be approved by the co-chairs. Meetings will be convened as needed. Participation by at least two-thirds of the approved membership will be required for a quorum.
The parties will resolve disagreements over the application and interpretation of the agreement through consultations. Amendments will require the written consent of both countries and will be formalized in separate protocols. The agreement will enter into force on the date the last written notification confirming completion of the necessary domestic procedures is received through diplomatic channels.
