Eurasian Union opens new quotas for meat imports at zero tariff

The Eurasian Economic Union (UEA) recently approved the expansion of quotas for imports, with zero tariff, of beef and pork destined for processing, according to Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture.

The bloc comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The Russian beef quota will be valid for the entire year of 2022, with a volume of 200 thousand tons. For pork, the Russian quota will be 100,000 tonnes, valid between January 1st and June 30th of next year.

In addition to Russia, the measure provides for quotas totaling 38,500 tonnes of fresh, chilled or frozen beef, of which 5,000 are for Armenia, 21,000 for Kazakhstan, 5,000 for Kyrgyzstan and 7,500 for Belarus .

There are also quotas for frozen pork with a volume of 5,000 tons for Armenia and 7,000 for Kazakhstan, and fresh, chilled or frozen pork with a volume of 20,000 tons for Belarus.

The new import quotas are set out in Decision 116/2021 of the Eurasian Union. The subject was discussed with the Russian government during Brazilian Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina’s visit to Moscow, in November.

Since Minister Tereza Cristina’s recent mission to Russia, the Moscow government has approved the resumption of the qualification of a total of 16 Brazilian meatpacking plants, installed in eight states (Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Rio Grande of the South, Santa Catarina and São Paulo). Of this total, seven are beef; eight of pork and one of pork and poultry.

All these plants have been enabled in the past, but sales have been suspended since 2017, due to the alleged detection of ractopamine in products from Brazil. In 2018, the market was reopened, but with only a few qualified establishments.

Minister Tereza Cristina discussed the matter with the head of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), Sergey Dankvert. Immediately, the resumption of authorization of two beef establishments was announced.

On the 25th, the restrictions on another 12 Brazilian beef, pork and poultry plants had been lifted, in view of “the work carried out by the Map aimed at complying with the requirements of the Russian Federation and the guarantees that were presented by the competent body Brazilian”, according to a note from the Commercial Representation of the Russian Federation in Brazil.

Two more plants may soon return to exporting Brazilian beef to that country.

With the resumption of exports from these slaughterhouses after the mission of Minister Tereza Cristina, Brazil now has 19 beef, 14 pork and 29 poultry establishments authorized for the Russian market, in addition to 26 dairy products.

The Pig Site

Tags: импорт, pork, Beef, Eurasian Economic Union, quotas for imports, zero tariff