On August 22, Russia officially entered the WTO, which was the logical conclusion of the 18-year process of difficult negotiations on joining this organization. Along with the undoubted advantages for consumers, a country's membership in the World Trade Organization can be a serious test for a number of sectors of the country's economy, in particular for agriculture.
Russia's accession to the WTO will affect the country's economy ambiguously. In general, this is a definite plus, especially for the consumer - the goods will become cheaper and better, as many import duties will be abolished, competition among manufacturers will intensify. Russian companies will have free access to the foreign market without discriminatory duties. At the same time, for a number of sectors of the economy, this event will be a major blow. One such industry is agriculture.
The fact that Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization will negatively affect the agricultural sector has been known for a long time. Under the terms of entry into the WTO, agricultural support should not exceed a certain level. But this level is determined through negotiations, there is no single standard for all countries.
Russia failed to achieve a positive result in this matter. If until 2012 the government could allocate about $ 9 billion a year to support the agro-industrial complex, then from 2013 to 2017 this amount will fall to 4.4 billion. Switzerland itself, for example, the area of arable land in which is incommensurably smaller than in Russia, can spend up to $ 5.8 billion on the support of its agricultural producers. The USA can allocate for these purposes 19 billion dollars. All this deliberately puts Russian agricultural producers at a disadvantage.
After joining the WTO, a number of import duties on agricultural products were canceled, which will lead to lower prices for a number of products. The consumer will like it, but Russian agricultural producers will receive tens of billions of dollars in losses. In particular, meat and milk producers found themselves in a disadvantageous situation; poultry farming will suffer slightly less. In general, Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization will be a very difficult test for the country's agriculture.
It should be noted that in the negotiations on accession to the WTO, Western countries were particularly adamant about the state support of Russian agriculture. They can be understood: given the vastness of Russia, with good help from the state, its agricultural sector could overwhelm Europe with cheap and high-quality agricultural products. The Western negotiators could not go for it, in the end they managed to defend their positions.
Now, Russian agricultural producers need to learn how to function in the new conditions, while the government will have to work with indirect ways to support agricultural producers. Namely: with the training of personnel for the agricultural sector, the implementation of insurance programs, phytosanitary and veterinary measures, the improvement of rural infrastructure, etc. Some experts believe that even in the new conditions, Russia has every chance to make its agriculture profitable and competitive.
