Russia's recent entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) will not have a negative affect on the domestic fishery industry, according to statements of Vasily Sokolov, deputy head of Rosrybolovstvo, which were made during the recent Vladivostok International Fishery Congress.
According to him, Russian fish producers have long operated in the global fish market and will not experience any problems due to WTO accession.
This is reflected by the results of the Russian fishing industry, achieved for the last several years. According to analysts of Rosrybolovstvo, during the perid of 2008 to 2011 the annual growth of fish and seafood catch in Russia was in the range of 5%-10% and last year amounted to 4.3 million tonnes, which is the best result for the last 11 years.
According to Sokolov, in addition to fish catch, the production of fish products has also increased and last year exceeded 4 million tons. The volume of imports has also declined.
At the same time the majority of Russian fish producers are not so optimistic. According to them, obligations taken the country to join the WTO, presents certain risks to fishing industry, such as the reduction of state support.
There is a possibilty that Russia’s WTO accession may result in the decline in some segments of the Russian fishery industry and in particular fish processing and vessel equipment, where the removal of all barriers will result in the influx of imports.
In addition, the reduction of duties on the imports of fish products from 10% to 6% will result in a significant increase of supplies of cheap fish and fish products from abroad.
According to German Zverev, head of the Russian Association of Pollock Producers, the Russian market will be flooded by cheap fish, grown in aquaculture farmings in the Asia-Pacific region.
He also added that Russian non-tariff barriers (which include import contracts) are not so strict as those set for Russian production in the global market, which means than Russian market is not protected from imported products of poor quality.