November 17, 2008
Russia on its way to self-sufficiency in meat
Russia has increased its domestic meat market share by 20 percent in the past five years, and the number will keep going up as the country continues to churn out more national agriculture development plans.
For sometime, Russia has strived to increase its domestic production and exert influence on import quotas, which led to the market share growth.
Russia introduced meat imports quotas in 2003, and quotas were allocated among the largest importers according to the results of three previous years. Prior to this, the market was fully opened and the tariff quota was low, keeping profits low as well.
The quotas were introduced to restrict the cheap frozen meat imports and to encourage domestic meat production, said Sergey Yushin, executive director of National Meat Association.
After the cut in meat supply, many large importers began their own agricultural projects.
Poultry imports share was 61 percent in 2001, but fell to 40 percent last year. Poultry imports share will decrease again next year as Russia slashed off 300,000 tonnes from next year's quota.
