Food security of Russia in WTO

Экономические науки / 13. Региональная экономика

c.e.s., associate professor Tuskov A.A.

Penza regional center of the higher school (branch) of federal public budgetary educational institution of higher education «Russian state university of innovative technologies and business», Russia

Graduate student Dyachuk V. S.

Food security of Russia in WTO

Participation in world trade, increase the diversity of consumer market, the relationship with developed countries - this is the normal state of almost every modern country. For the Russian Federation is characterized by the huge chunk of all food products are imported.

Most of the imports of products of the livestock industry. This is due to the fact that the production of the product in the country was reduced to a critical level. This issue is relevant to the country in connection with the entry into the World Trade Organization. To join the WTO requires that the economy does not fall below the level of economies of WTO members in all areas. Today, our country is in the position of the food crisis and to join the organization not only completely undermining Russian food security, it threatens the national security of our country.

Food security refers to a situation in which all members of society in fact have the right to affordable food or food resources, have the necessary amount of food. [1, p.38] Today we can say that our country is a critical feature of food security. It is known that the boundary of food security is, according to various estimates, the level of food imports in the 18 - 35% of the demand - is the norm. Today, this value is close to 60%.

Table 1 - Performance of imports of certain food products in Russia, 2011 [2]

Name of product	Amount, thousands of tons
fresh and frozen meat	1319
fresh pork and frozen	657
poultry fresh and frozen	420
fresh fish and frozen	627
milk and cream, not concentrated	184
milk and cream, concentrated	168
butter	96,1
cheese and curd	381
potatoes, fresh or chilled	1497
tomatoes, fresh or chilled	695
onion, garlic, fresh or chilled	511
cabbage	320
cucumbers and gherkins, fresh or chilled	158
bananas	1184
oranges, fresh or dried	501
fresh or dried mandarins	490
fresh grapes	368
fresh apples	1052
corn	109
sunflower oil	92,7

As the table shows, all the basic food is imported products. This means that now the state lost the ability to ensure food security of Russia, therefore, poses a serious threat to the current and strategic, current and future, to the interests of the country and its citizens.

Recently, it became less and less meat to appear in your shopping cart. In 2010, the consumption of animal products per capita was equal to: pork 16 kg, 12 kg of beef, poultry meat, 23 kg, 3 kg of mutton. According to the research firm estimates Numbers, optimal biological norm of consumption of meat - at least 80 kg per capita per year. In the U.S., meat consumption is 120 kg, 106 kg in Australia, in Canada, 98 kg. [4]

Therefore, in order to feed the population of the country, we have to import meat from abroad. In 2011, imports of meat production totaled 1.319 million tons. This is clearly reflected in the balance of trade in food products. [2]

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Figure 1. - Trade balance in the trade of food products in billion in Russia

Balance of trade of food products is negative, and from year to year. This suggests that we many times have reduced production of consumer goods and no longer feed themselves, and bulk food products now account for imports. A similar phenomenon in most cases leads to negative consequences, such as: washing generates foreign exchange reserves of the country, destabilize the currency may lead to devaluation, the consequences of which are the sharp rise in prices and a reduction in people's lives. To avoid this, you need to stimulate their own food production by increasing subsidies to the agricultural sector, as it was his second sphere. But the state, which comes into the WTO, is to cut agricultural subsidies, in particular the "amber box", to abandon export subsidies, reduce tariffs on foreign products and cancel quotas. We can not fully ensure the national production. A negative balance in the current and future large flows of goods after joining the WTO, domestic production will fall completely to zero. High agricultural subsidies, the establishment of high import and low export tariffs on their own products - these are some of the measures needed to restore the current situation in agriculture. Upon accession to the WTO, we will lose the ability to implement them.

Restoring agricultural production - the only way out of a situation in which there is now our country with regard to food security. But to accomplish this, there must be freedom of action, which we lose, entering the World Trade Organization. It is believed that with the entry of Russia into the World Trade Organization, our farmers will be much harder to sell their products. The Russian market will be more open to imports, and the government will not be able to fully implement the policy of protectionism. On the shelves there will be new products manufacturers from WTO countries, where agriculture is more developed than in our country.

Thus, Russia is not competitive in the field of food and entry into the WTO will suffer a negative impact that will affect the well-being of Russian citizens. WTO accession may result in the complete degradation of domestic production and the loss of food, and then, and national security.

Literature:

1. Altukhov A. Food security as factor of social and economic development of the country//Economist. - 2008. - N 5. - Page 38.

2. The RUSSIAN FEDERAL SERVICE OF STATE STATISTICS, «Agriculture, hunting and a hunting economy, forestry in Russia»//Export and an import of the goods of the Russian Federation with foreign countries.

3. Federal service of the state statistics [Electronic resource]. – www.gks.ru.

4. Magazine «Business review» [Electronic resource]. – www.uldelo.ru