The government proposed to limit the import of foreign seeds

The issue of introducing quotas for the import of foreign seeds to Russia is being worked out in the government, a decision on it can be made soon, Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

“As for quotas for the import of foreign seeds, this idea is being worked out, we will most likely see such decisions at the government site soon,” she said.

According to her, the Russian authorities have already met with the Association of European Businesses on this issue. “Colleagues were worried about the possibility of closing the Russian market, we explained the rules of the game <…> The negotiations did not lead to the fact that foreigners refused to work in Russia. We will not be left without seeds,” Abramchenko emphasized.

The Deputy Prime Minister added that while difficulties remain in Russia with the seeds of potatoes, sugar beets, corn and sunflowers - these crops are most dependent on imports, however, by 2030, a self-sufficiency level of 75% should be reached for them.

According to the indicators approved in the Doctrine of Food Safety, the share of domestic seeds in the domestic market should be at least 75% - this figure has not yet been reached, noted in January 2023 the HEAD of the Ministry of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev. Now the level of self-sufficiency in seeds of the main agricultural crops, according to the ministry, is 60.3%. The Russian agro-industrial complex is “very vulnerable” in a situation where the market is open to foreign selection, while “ready-made forms are imported into the country, and no one gives us parental forms,” the minister pointed out.

The fact that the Ministry of Agriculture is preparing proposals for quoting seed imports became known in August 2022. The need to introduce such a measure, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut then explained the food security of the country: “We lived on foreign seeds all the time. Even those suppliers who told us that they would never leave, they will receive some order from unfriendly countries, and 90% of the seeds are unfriendly countries. Therefore, given that this is an element of food security, we cannot afford this and will move to a system of quotas for the supply of imported seeds, gradually reducing quotas and realizing that we are closing ourselves in seeds.”

Unlike many Western companies that limited operations in the Russian market after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine , the largest foreign seed suppliers continued to work in Russia. However, in early February 2023, it became known that major foreign seed producers - Syngenta, Bayer, Nuseed - notified Russian customers of the suspension of accepting applications for the purchase of sunflower hybrids and the revision of prices. Producers explained the measures by restrictions on the import of seeds by ROSSELKHOZNADZOR .

President of the Russian Grain Union Arkady Zlochevsky told RBC in February that before restricting imports, one must first produce similar domestic seeds in Russia. “Otherwise, we simply reduce the level of competition, which will lead to an increase in the price of domestic varietal seeds, which are not bought because of their economic inefficiency,” he noted. According to him, in terms of grains and oilseeds, Russia depends primarily on the supply of sunflower seeds - the share of imports reaches 70%, as well as rapeseed and corn seeds (for both crops, the share of imports is about 60%).