«The parties agreed that the Rosselkhoznadzor together with the veterinary service of the Republic of Belarus will consider in detail the existing mutual restrictions on the supplied goods for the validity of such bans, and will inform the governments of the two countries by March 1», the report says.

According to the press service of Gordeev’s department, the Deputy Prime Minister met Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Rusy. Opening the meeting, Gordeev noted the positive dynamics of growth in agricultural trade between the two countries and confirmed the readiness of the Russian party to continue a constructive dialogue and cooperation in all sectors of the agro-industrial complex. «Our countries have a common understanding of the development of the agricultural policy of the Union state. The main objective for 2019 remains the removal of the remaining barriers, including the supply of dairy products», — said the Deputy Prime Minister.

Gordeev proposed to minimize the number of falsified products and quasi-transit from Belarus through the Russian Federation to other EAEU countries. In his opinion, such products disturb the milk market in both countries and sometimes leads to the forced introduction of «draconian» measures. «Perhaps, in order to prevent quasi — transit in the movement of goods, it is necessary to introduce a mechanism for providing a bank guarantee», he said.

In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister stressed the importance of implementing the agreed trade balances for 2019 and warned against building unnecessary barriers. Products can be suspended only because of non-compliance with safety standards, he said. During the discussion, it was noted that the need to combat falsification led to the adoption of the resolution by the government of the Russian Federation on the separation of natural dairy products, excluding the content of vegetable fats, in retailers.

As it was mentioned in the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, now the agricultural ministries of Russia and Belarus are making trade balances in three categories of goods: milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, sugar. Both parties positively assessed the implementation of trade balances for 2018.

During the meeting, Gordeev also reported about the integration of the two electronic systems for traceability of products — the Russian system «Mercury» and the Belarusian analogue, to cut off the unfair shady business and the circulation of falsified agricultural products. The Belarusian party also informed about its interest in the supply of agricultural machinery to Russia and the continuation of cooperation in the field of genetic development.

According Minister of agriculture of the Russian Federation Dmitry Patrushev, who was also present at the meeting, the Ministry is considering the possibility of providing state support for the purchase of Belarusian equipment by Russian farmers.

At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue the discussion of topical issues of Russian-Belarusian cooperation at the next joint Board of agricultural departments of Russia and Belarus in spring this year.

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