Prime Minister Vladimir Putin issued a number of instructions on the development of agriculture
In the wake of the meeting on enhancing the effectiveness of the Government's agrarian policy held in the city of Yessentuki on May 19, 2008, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin issued a number of instructions to the ministries and agencies aimed at implementing the government programme on the development of agriculture and regulation of agricultural produce, raw materials and food markets for 2008-2012 and the federal targeted programme "Social Development of Rural Areas to 2012".
The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Finance Ministry have been instructed, jointly with the federal executive power bodies, research organisations and industrial unions, to develop and implement a complex of measures aimed at:
• ensuring sustained development of rural areas and improvement of the quality of rural life;
• enhancing the effectiveness of agricultural production, first by increasing the yields of current crops and then by developing unused arable land based on regional comprehensive agricultural land use projects;
• enhancing the genetic potential of both crops and livestock, including the development of departmental targeted programmes on seed-breeding and livestock breeding;
• development of primary processing of meat (consistent with the Russian President's instruction No. Pr-504 of March 25, 2008).
The measures taken and the results are to be reported to the Government before July 15, 2008.
The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development have been instructed to take measures, in conjunction with Rosselkhozbank and Rosagroleasing, to enhance the provision of technology to agricultural producers, including on the basis of new leasing instruments and long-term loans.
The measures taken and the results shall be reported to the Government before August 1, 2008.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Energy, the Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development have been instructed to ensure effective implementation of measures envisaged by antimonopoly laws, to stabilise prices for the types of resources consumed by the agro-industrial complex, first and foremost fuel, lubricants and fertiliser.
The measures being taken and the results shall be reported to the Government of the Russian Federation on a quarterly basis.
The Finance Ministry, the Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development have been instructed to expedite the submission to the Government of the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law on the Federal Budget for 2008 and the Plan Period 2009 and 2010, for the purpose of allocation, in the first half of 2008, of federal budget money to compensate part of the costs incurred by agricultural producers to buy combined fodder in the amount of 10 billion roubles, to buy mineral fertiliser in the amount of 8 billion roubles and to increase the authorised capital of Rosselkhozbank in the amount of 30 billion roubles as part of long-term crediting of agriculture and to conduct grain purchase interventions envisaging the purchase of no less than 5 million tonnes of grain.
The said agencies have also been instructed to submit to the Government of the Russian Federation proposals on preserving the incentive tax regime for the production and sale of agricultural produce and food.
The Agriculture Ministry, the Finance Ministry, and the Ministry of Economic Development shall develop proposals on improving insurance in agriculture and on increasing the share of insured crops in the total area under crops.
The results shall be reported to the Government of the Russian Federation before September 1, 2008.
The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Federal Customs Service, and the Federal Antimonopoly Service, for the purpose of creating a system of quick response to the change of prices for staple agricultural products and foodstuffs aimed at enhancing productivity and competitiveness of domestic products while ensuring affordable food for the population, have been instructed to:
• organise permanent monitoring of prices of staple agricultural products and foodstuffs;
• take measures to improve the mechanisms of reaction to price fluctuations provided such mechanisms have a market profile and are immediately used when market prices change; prepare proposals on regulatory legal acts to expand government procurement and commodity interventions, mortgage operations, including the use thereof in the market of dairy and meat products;
• prepare proposals on corresponding regulatory legal acts to speed up the introduction of customs and tariff measures to regulate foreign trade in agricultural products and food;
• develop and approve the methods of determining and monitoring the level of profitability of the production of staple agricultural products and foodstuffs.
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The results shall be reported to the Government before July 1, 2008.
The Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry and Trade have been instructed to analyse the social and economic consequences of the foreign trade agreements earlier signed by the Russian Federation in the sphere of the agro-industrial complex, the results and the necessary proposals to be submitted to the Government before August 1, 2008.
The Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development have been instructed to draft and submit to the Government the federal law aimed at stimulating the development of agricultural associations. The deadline is October 1, 2008.
The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Economic Development have been instructed to accelerate the development of technical regulations to ensure the safety and quality of food raw materials and foodstuffs, first with technical regulations regarding meat and its products as well as poultry.
Progress in the development of regulations shall be reported to the Government before May 26, 2008.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Agriculture Ministry and the Ministry of Economic Development shall develop a set of measures to design an effective trade policy that permits cost reduction throughout the entire chain from the production and processing of agricultural produce to the retail sale of foodstuffs.
The results shall be reported to the Government before July 1, 2008.
The above mentioned agencies have also been instructed to expedite the submission to the Government of the draft federal law On the Main Principles of State Regulation of Trade Activities in the Russian Federation, which would contain a section on the sale of agricultural products. The deadline is May 30, 2008.
The Agriculture Ministry, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Health and Social Development and the Federal Antimonopoly Service have been instructed to submit to the Government corresponding draft regulatory legal acts that would take into account agricultural performance indicators in assessing the performance of local government of urban areas and municipal districts located in rural territory.
The above agencies shall also analyse the practice of enforcing the laws regulating the production, processing and sale of agricultural produce and foodstuffs and, if necessary, submit to the Government proposals on any modification. The deadline is September 1, 2008.
The Prime Minister has also instructed the executive power bodies of Russian regions to accelerate work to implement the provisions of Federal Law No. 271-FZ of December 30, 2006 On Retail Markets and on Introducing Amendments to the Labour Code of the Russian Federation with a view to assisting the creation of agricultural cooperative markets in every municipal district.
