Food destruction causes division

The Russian policy of destroying confiscated food, is dividing the Russian population. Although a majority is in favour of the policy, particularly when public health is at stake, others are speaking out against the policy. Recently, 20 tonnes of tomatoes from the Czech Republic were destroyed. Ecuador and Azerbaijan still see opportunities in Russia. Poland managed to increase its export, and the crisis offers opportunities to Russian hypermarkets. In regions where the store formula is still unknown, the hypermarket is able to gain ground and compete with local suppliers. Russian retailers have been ordered to remove certain products from Western brands from their shelves, because they don't meet the requirements. In other news, NATO and Georgia are talking about a membership to the country again.

The decision by the Russian government to destroy confiscated food, is causing division among the population. Last week, there were reports already of the state being sued, and the communists in parliament proposed to hand out food to the poor. An opinion poll shows that 46% of the population is in favour of using the food. 44% is against that idea. When asked what should be done with the confiscated food, 22% responded that destruction is the only solution. 25% wants to give the food to the poor. 14% wants to send back the products. Nearly 80% of the population is in favour of destruction, if the authorities come to the conclusion that the food could be harmful to public health. Only 10% of the population is against destruction of food, under any circumstance.

Among the elderly Russians, particularly in St Petersburg, the destruction of food evokes images from the Second World War. During the battle of what was then Leningrad, the Nazis blew up food depots to force the people to surrender. The Soviets, however, were adamant, resulting in a famine that claimed many victims in the city.

Ecuador and Russia are negotiating a partnership regarding phytosanitary inspections, Russian inspection service Rosselkhoznadzor reports on its website. The two countries talked about things like supply of exotic fruit to Russia, and the import ban on Dutch flowers. Ecuador expressed concerns, because many flowers are shipped to Russia through the Netherlands. The country is also prepared, however, to export directly to Russia.

In the first six months, Polish export increased by 6.4% to 11.2 billion Euro, the Ministry of Agriculture reports. The increase was realized despite lower export to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS; former Soviet republics) and the Russian embargo. The export to these countries went down by 44% to 561 million Euro, a loss that was amply compensated for by an increase in export to EU countries. Trade with Europe increased by 26% to 3.7 billion Euro.

The food export accounts for 12.8% of the total Polish export. The Eastern European country realized a trade surplus of 3.5 billion Euro, an 18% increase compared to the first six months of 2014.

In the region of Kaliningrad, a 19.8 tonne shipment of tomatoes from the Czech Republic was intercepted. The tomatoes were labelled as Macedonian produce. Russia intercepted the tomatoes, which weren't accompanied by a proper certificate. The tomatoes have been destroyed.

Exporters from Azerbaijan are gaining ground in the Russian market, according to Natalya Krasovskaya, head of a consultative body between the countries. The trade is lucrative for both parties. In future, there might be an agreement between the countries to further simplify customs formalities. Between January and August, Russia imported for 428.6 million dollars, and exported for 791.2 million dollars to its neighbour. The agricultural production in Azerbaijan increased by 7.3%, thanks to a good fruit and vegetable harvest this year.

The crisis in Russia and the decreasing purchasing power provide opportunities to Russian hypermarkets in regions where the store formula is still unknown. The hypermarkets are able to deal with local competitors with low prices and a broad range of products. For instance, Auchan is looking to the Saransk region, about 512 kilometres southwest of Moscow. The chain opens three stores under the Nasha Raduga label, a formula developed for cities with 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants.

On Tuesday, Russian food safety inspection Rospotrebnadzor reported that a number of supermarkets have been ordered to take products by Western brands off their shelves. These are products from Henkel, Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Clorox. According to Russia, the products don't meet Russia's toxicological safety requirements. The impact of the measure is still unknown. According to Russian media, this is about specific products rather than entire product ranges.

NATO is investigating possibilities for Georgia to become a member of the military union. The organization's secretary general is in talks about this with the Georgian government, in the run-up to the NATO summit in Warsaw. In 2008, when Georgia was also seeking rapprochement with NATO and relations with Russia deteriorated fast, Russia invaded the country. In addition to the rapprochement to NATO, the interests of two separatist regions in Georgia also play a part. South Ossetia and Abkhazia want to become independent from Georgia, seeking rapprochement to Russia. After five days, the conflict cooled.

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