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At the second meeting of the Agro-Industrial Policy Council of the Eurasian Economic Union, the heads of authorized departments of the EAEU countries, profile ministers of the Eurasian Economic Commission and representatives of the Eurasian Development Bank discussed the issues of sustainable development of the agricultural sector in the Eurasian Economic Union, including the prospects for forming a single market for agricultural seeds and digital transformation of the industry, as well as the initiative to create a Eurasian commodity distribution network.

The meeting participants emphasized the importance of the Commission and the countries's activities to develop and deepen integration in the field of seed production and stressed the need to speed up the adoption of joint measures to form and develop a single seed market.

Today, the Union remains highly dependent on imports of seeds and planting material of agricultural crops from third countries. According to EEC statistics for 2020, the volumes of such imports amounted to USD 1,026.2 million. Almost 80% of this import volume accounts for seeds of corn, sunflower, sugar beet, vegetable crops, planting material of fruit and berry crops. At the same time, the volume of mutual trade in seeds within the EAEU during this period amounted to USD 58.2 million.

"The heads of the Union determined the activities to unify the EAEU countries' legislation in the areas of testing the varieties and seed production of agricultural crops as the next stage in developing a single EAEU seed market in the period from 2022 to 2025. We are pleased to note a significant progress in these activities. The Eurasian Economic Commission Board approved a list of agricultural crops whose seeds and planting material our countries import and are critically dependent on such imports. Our task for the nearest future is to develop joint measures for enhancing the breeding and seed production to increase their competitiveness in the single agricultural market of the Union," Artak Kamalyan, Minister in charge of Industry and Agriculture of the EEC stated.

The Union countries' Ministers of Agriculture approved the need for research activities which will include preparing a detailed analysis of the current situation in breeding and seed production and a draft concept for their development in the EAEU.

"Thus, we will be able to develop measures to increase the competitiveness of these agricultural sectors, including those related to the breeding of varieties demanded by agriculture and the production of high-quality seeds," Artak Kamalyan summed up.

The parties also considered the issue of forming a unified commodity distribution network of the EAEU, being worked out by the Commission in cooperation with the EAEU. We are talking about building an interconnected system of infrastructural agrological facilities, including a network of wholesale distribution centers for selling agricultural products.

As Artak Kamalyan noted, creating a single commodity distribution system in the Union will help to increase the volume of mutual trade, reduce dependence on imports, attract investments and involve businesses in the project implementation process. This will stimulate the development of infrastructure and related industries, ensure the creation of new jobs, increase the products quality and competitiveness, and reduce losses during goods storage and transportation.

In his turn, Viktor Nazarenko, EEC Minister in charge of Technical Regulation, stressed that to ensure food security and sustainable development of agricultural sector in the EAEU countries, it is important to comprehensively resolve all issues, including those related to ensuring epizootic and phytosanitary welfare.

"The Union is systematically developing and adopting the necessary documents in these areas. These are, first of all, the Regulation on the Identification, Registration and Traceability of Animals and Products of Animal Origin and the Rules Regulating the Circulation of Veterinary Medicines in the EAEU," Viktor Nazarenko, Minister for Technical Regulation of the EEC, stated.

Viktor Nazarenko also asked the Members of the Agroindustrial Policy Council of the Union, the Member States' Ministers of Agriculture to assist in developing the countries' final position for the soonest adoption of these documents by the Union authorities.

Besides, within the Agro-Industrial Policy Council at the level of Deputy Ministers of Education and Science, Agriculture and Economy, a ceremony of signing a Memorandum on the Development of the Union States Interaction in the Field of Training Personnel For Industry and the Agricultural Sector was held. The document provides for providing he academic mobility of students, preparing and implementing the joint educational programs and online courses in the most popular and promising specialties, retraining and advanced personnel training, as well as a number of other areas.

"Implementing the Memorandum provisions will allow strengthening the Union's system of partnership of educational institutions and intercultural communications, increasing the attractiveness of specialised education and the level of professional competencies," Artak Kamalyan noted.

Currently, as part of implementing the signed document, with the coordination of the Eurasian Economic Commission’s Agroindustrial Unit, the activities are underway to launch a joint educational course on winemaking between Armenia and Russia. In addition, the possibility of conducting by interested Union Member States' scientific and educational institutions, as further vocational education, refresher courses on such topics as "ESG and sustainable development of food systems" and "Precision farming" is being considered.