Ukraine intends to ban acceptance of Russian grain being transported mainly on transit through Ukrainian ports to foreign markets to prevent the foot-and-mouth disease from spreading from the southern regions of Russia to Ukraine, the Kommersant-Ukraine newspaper writes.
According to Russia’s federal veterinary and phytosanitary supervision service (Rosselkhoznadzor), cases of the foot-and-mouth disease have been registered in the Karachaevo-Cherkessia republic and the surrounding districts of the Krasnodar district. The press service of Rosselkhoznadzor said that Ukraine is taking advantage of the fact that the service lost the function of issuing accompanying veterinary certificates for vegetable products after Russia's accession to the WTO.
"In the situation that has arisen, Ukraine can allow delivery of grain to Ukrainian ports only if there are accompanying veterinary documents showing that the grain was grown in regions free of the foot-and-mouth disease. However, since the Russian service does not issue such documents, Ukraine is banning import of Russian grain,” said Rosselkhoznadzor.
Ukrainian grain-market participants consider the government's decision an adequate solution to the problem. "This decision will not affect Ukrainian grain traders in any way, but it will help to remove the risks of the foot-and-mouth virus spreading to the country," said Andrii Vadaturskyi, the deputy director of Ukraine's largest grain exporter Nibulon.
According to the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation’s Director Serhii Stoianov, the losses of seaports will be minimal. "The volume of transit of Russian grain was only 12,000 tons in the first nine months of the 2012-2013 marketing year. By comparison, Ukraine exported 23 million tons during the entire season," he said.
