Ban on Russian sugar exports has gone into effect

MOSCOW. May 6 (Interfax) - Russia's ban on sugar exports comes into force on Monday.

The related government decree was signed on May 3, 2024 and posted on the official legal information portal on May 4. The resolution comes into force one day after the day of its official publication, that is, on May 6, 2024, the document says.

The government reported on its Telegram channel on Friday that the ban on the export of cane or beet sugar, as well as chemically pure sucrose, will be in effect through August 31, 2024. The decision is aimed at maintaining the stability of the domestic food market.

The resolution provides for a number of exceptions. Sugar may be exported to EAEU member-countries in specific volumes. In particular, exports of 28,000 tonnes of sugar to Armenia, 5,000 tonnes to Belarus, 120,000 tonnes to Kazakhstan, and 28,500 tonnes to Kyrgyzstan are permitted. The Ministry of Agriculture was instructed to distribute these volumes among exporters within 10 working days after the resolution entered force, and to transfer this information to the Ministry of Industry and Trade within 11 days, so that it may issue licenses for sugar exports.

The decision to temporarily ban sugar exports was approved on April 5 at a meeting of the Subcommittee on Customs, Tariff and Non-Tariff Regulation on protective measures in foreign trade under the government commission for economic development and integration.

The draft resolution was prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture in mid-March of this year.

Interfax sources reported earlier that the issue of banning the export of sugar from Russia was discussed in the Ministry of Agriculture at the end of February. The need for the measure was justified by "concerns about increased exports of sugar abroad." "In this situation, it is important that there are sufficient carryover stocks for the new season," one source said.