Russia: The industry union proposed increasing import duties on potatoes

The Potato Union is proposing to increase import duties on potatoes and their products to protect the domestic market amid a record harvest. The head of the union’s apparatus, Tatyana Gubina, said this at the plenary session of the exhibition “Potatoes and Vegetables Agrotech,” writes field.rf. According to her, the industry is now facing serious problems, with additional customs duties on the export of potatoes and vegetables. “At the same time, import duties on these products and their processing are not increasing. We are turning to the State Duma with a proposal: protect our market. Let's increase import duties to create sales opportunities. The dollar exchange rate is growing, and, unfortunately, we cannot compete due to customs duties on exports,” Gubina emphasized. Currently in Russia there is an import duty on potatoes of 5%. Previously, the Potato Union had already proposed raising the rate to 15%. In October last year, Gubina said that flexible export duties, which came ...