Price situation on Russia's food market stable, additional measures possible if necessary - Agriculture Minister

MOSCOW. Dec 14 (Interfax) - The price situation on Russia's food market is stable, though the respective departments could take additional measures if necessary, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said on Wednesday during the government hour in the State Duma.

Noting that one of the areas of the ministry's work is interagency cooperation, particularly in ensuring the affordability of products on the domestic foodstuffs market, Patrushev said that, "Overall, the current set of measures allows us to talk about relative stability in this matter."

"Our prices are rising at a slower rate than global prices. We are and will continue monitoring [the situation] together with the ministries of Industry and Trade and Economic Development. If necessary, we will take additional measures," the minister said assuredly.

Patrushev said that Russian foodstuffs were known and appreciated throughout the world, largely because of the high quality.

"This is also the result of many years of work, including in the area of improving traceability by using government information systems," Patrushev said.

The minister clarified that the Mercury system of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) alone annually detects more than 60,000 violations in the production of products.

"This keeps thousands of buyers from purchasing low-quality goods, and raises the requirements for production and safety of raw materials," he said.

Patrushev also confirmed the previous forecast that Russian exports of agricultural products should total about $40 billion this year.