The Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) has approved quotas for duty-free tomato imports into Russia, capped at 100,000 tons, a reduction from Russia's initial request for 130,000 tons.
According to the EEC's trade bloc, this privilege will extend until the end of May 2024. The decision encompasses medium and large-sized tomatoes, excluding ribbed, elongated, and cherry varieties.
Additionally, Belarus will receive a quota for duty-free tomato imports of up to 6,000 tons.
Andrey Slepnev, the EEC Minister for Trade, highlighted, "Currently, there's a trend among our agricultural producers towards partially shifting from certain tomato varieties to others. Furthermore, there's a growing consumer demand. Given the inability to sharply increase greenhouse tomato production to balance the market in the short term, import supplies will assist."
Slepnev noted that imports from Turkey, China, Egypt, and Iran, whose products' prices are comparable to domestic production, are particularly relevant for meeting demand.
Source: interfax.ru