Opinions & Interviews

According to Mikhail Rusyi, on 4-5 December representatives of the Belarusian side together with representatives of Russian veterinary and sanitary services will take measures with regard to every Belarusian enterprise subjected to the Russian restrictions. As a result of the negotiations the sides will have to prepare an action plan to get the situation back to normal.

The Vice Prime Minister underlined that all the Belarusian enterprises that the Russian side complains about are now constantly monitored. Within days the Russian side will get all the necessary documents concerning these enterprises. Mikhail Rusyi said that the restrictions may be removed for several enterprises within a couple of days while the other enterprises will have the restrictions gradually removed within ten days.

The Belarusian side suggests taking a number of measures to prevent the situation from repeating in the future. In particular, the future Eurasian Economic Union should have a system in place to control the quality of products throughout the entire manufacturing and distribution chain. The official remarked that Belarus operates the online system ARGUS to monitor meat products. A similar system to monitor vegetable products is suggested to be created in 2015.

Proposals have been voiced to create a system to respond to detected violations. “We suggest holding video conferences every month or every week if necessary to discuss and fix all the emerging issues,” said Mikhail Rusyi. Apart from that, it is necessary to work out unified rules for collecting product samples since they are sometimes falsified.

Speaking about Russian mass media obsessing about Belarus purchasing raw materials from the countries subject to the Russian embargo, Mikhail Rusyi underlined that Belarus does not purchase much. In particular, Belarus has bought 70,000 tonnes of milk since Russia introduced the embargo. “This amount is sufficient to keep Belarus’ entire dairy industry operating for only three days,” said Mikhail Rusyi. The official added that last year Belarus bought only 1,000 tonnes of milk, this is why this year’s growth seems considerable.

Mikhail Rusyi also stressed that the Belarusian customs service acts in a professional manner and prevents the illegal import of merchandise into the Customs Union. In his words, some 70-75 big rigs used to go through Belarus in transit every day before Russia introduced the embargo on Western food. Now the number has decreased considerably. Mikhail Rusyi said that the Belarusian customs service had stopped six vehicles without the necessary accompanying documents lately. In turn, an attempt to import fish and dried fruits from Russia without the necessary documents has been stopped. “Customs services are supposed to stop grey import and they are doing exactly that,” noted Mikhail Rusyi.