The EEC establishes tariff quota volumes within the framework of the Free Trade Agreement with Vietnam for long-grain rice for the EAEU countries for 2016
The Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission held a session chaired by the Chairman of the EEC Board Tigran Sargsyan where attendees addressed a number of issues in the area of trade and customs cooperation. The session was held on June 21, 2016.
In particular, the Eurasian Economic Commission established the tariff quota volumes for imports of long-grain rice from Vietnam to the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union (the EAEU) in 2016. The Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Vietnam, which is expected to come into force in the coming months, once all the countries of the Union complete ratification procedures, provides for a tariff quota for imports of this kind of rice from Vietnam to the EAEU at a zero rate of import duty in the volume of 10,000 tonnes per year.
According to the decision of the Board of the Commission, the tariff quota volume for 2016 for Russia will be 8,974 tonnes, and for Belarus - 1,026 tonnes.
Within the framework of the consultations on preparations for the entry into force of the Free Trade Agreement between the EAEU and Vietnam, the Union countries agreed to set the tariff quota volumes for imports of Vietnamese rice, taking into account the demand for this kind of rice in their territories.
The Republic of Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic have not requested tariff quota volumes for long-grain rice for 2016. The Republic of Armenia has set zero import customs duties for this kind of rice until the end of 2018 during the transitional period.
The provision of such a quota for Vietnamese suppliers will not significantly impact the EAEU market and will not create risks for domestic rice producers. This kind of rice, by virtue of agroclimatic conditions, is not produced in the Union countries. However, over a million tons of rice were produced in Russia in 2014. Thus, the quota for Vietnamese rice does not exceed even 1% of the domestic production in Russia.
Press-release at the official Eurasian Economic Commission web-site