Latin American countries now have chance to enter Russian food market - agricultural watchdog
MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax) - Following the ban on food shipments from the EU, the U.S., Canada and a number of other countries, Latin American countries now have the chance to enter and become a real player on the Russian food market, Sergei Dankvert, the head of Russia's agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, said.
"We are now thinking more about not restricting shipments, but about how to compensate for the shortfall in products. That's why we initiated active talks with other countries," Dankvert told Interfax following a series of meetings with the ambassadors of a number of Latin American countries on Thursday.
"We are informing them that favorable conditions are unfolding as concerns access to our market. Before, many countries were unable to get to the market due to harsh competition; now it has lessened and this should be taken advantage of," he said.
In particular, there are shrimp farms in Uruguay whose products could replace the banned Canadian shipments, Dankvert said. "We have even inspected several Uruguayan seafood suppliers," he added.
Dankvert noted that Uruguay also has a real chance to begin supplying Russia with milk. "Back at the beginning of the year, they were asking for their companies to be inspected, but we didn't have enough hands; now we have time since it's not necessary to go to Europe and the U.S. for inspections," he said. In addition, the process of gaining approval to ship to Russia will now be simpler, Dankvert said. "Our specialists were in Uruguay to inspect other products and were convinced that the country is overall familiar with Russian veterinary and sanitary standards," he added.
Uruguay could boost milk shipments "very seriously," Dankvert said.
Additionally, Peru has turned to Rosselkhoznadzor requesting talks, and the agency is planning talks with the Brazilian ambassador as well, he said.
Dankvert also held talks with the ambassadors of Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador and Mauritius on Thursday.
