December 21, 2012
Following an exploratory trade visit to Russia, Idaho State Department of Agriculture (ISDA) Director Celia Gould believes Gem State farmers could greatly bolster their exports to that country.
"Russia is a huge market for us now and it has the potential to become an even stronger market," said Gould, who participated in a USDA trade mission to Russia December 3-7.
Russia is already a fast-growing market for Idaho agriculture. Idaho agricultural exports to that country soared 962% in 2011 compared with 2010 and are up 44% to US$12.5 million through the first nine months of 2012.
From 2005-10, Russian agricultural imports doubled to US$31.7 billion and they surpassed US$40 billion in 2011. Only about US$1.5 billion of that total comes from the US. With Russia's recent inclusion in the World Trade Organisation and the US granting the country permanent normal trade relations, the timing was right for a trade mission there, Gould says.
With a population of 143 million and a growing middle class driving demand for high-quality western food products, Russia is the fifth largest agricultural import market in the world. It is the world's largest importer of apples, pears, breeding cattle and dairy products, the third largest importer of fresh vegetables, and ranks fourth in beef.
With its entry into the WTO in August, Russia agreed to reduce tariffs on a wide variety of agricultural products, including apples, cherries, whey, cheese, wine, beef and pork. The country can be a huge market for US dairy exports if a disagreement with this country over dairy product export certificates can be worked out, said Laura Johnson, who manages the ISDA's market development division and accompanied Gould to Russia.
Johnson said there are also opportunities in Russia for potato seed and processed potato products, apples, oilseeds, farm machinery and processed foods such as frozen onion rings. According to ISDA trade data compiled from US Census Bureau numbers, top Idaho agricultural exports to Russia include live dairy cattle, peas, lentils, chickpeas and seed.
