Participants in the meeting of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Advisory Committee on Agricultural Sector chaired by Artak Kamalyan, the EEC Minister in Charge of Industry and Agriculture, tackled a number of issues related to developing the Eurasian Economic Union's agricultural sector.
In particular, the draft recommendation of the Commission Board “Promoting the Selection and Production of Agricultural Plants’ Seeds in the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union” and the “Review on Promoting the Selection and Production of Agricultural Plants’ Seeds in the Member States” aimed at providing scientific and logistical support for the industry, broader cooperation in the field of plant genetic resources, advances in industrial seed production and fruit nurseries, as well as personnel training systems, improvement of legal regulation and governmental support measures.
The documents were developed based on the research results obtained by the Russian National Research University Higher School of Economics together with scientific, educational and research organizations, representatives of industry associations and business communities of the EAEU countries.
The Review covers the current state of affairs in seed selection and production, mutual and foreign trade in seeds and planting material, industry development programs and governmental support provided in the Union Member States.
“We primarily recommend creating the attractive conditions for the EAEU breeders and seed growers, as well as developing the common seed market of the Union”, Artak Kamalyan emphasized.
The meeting participants approved the amendments to the Procedure for testing new breeds, types, lines and crosses of farm animals in the EAEU Member States, in particular, an annex was added, which focuses on the need to evaluate the distinctiveness, uniformity, stability and resistance to diseases inherent in the new breeds, types, lines and crosses of farm animals tested.
“The amendments will allow us to accomplish the legal basis for testing, streamline the efforts aimed at approving the advances in the livestock selection and breeding, and have them adopted across the EAEU. This, in turn, will entail raising the genetic potential of animals, increasing the output of competitive breeding products, lowering the dependence on imports, and increasing mutual supplies, the EEC Minister pointed out.
The meeting also approved the draft recommendation of the EEC Board “On Unified Approaches to Recording Milk Productivity and Conducting Laboratory Control of the Milk Quality Produced by Dairy Cattle” aimed at unifying and enhancing the reliability of recording milk productivity and conducting the laboratory control of the milk quality while evaluating the milk productivity of dairy cattle across the EAEU, which is implemented in accordance with the Commission regulations based on the experience of the Union Member States and methods recommended by the International Committee on Animal Accounting.
Once adopted, the EEC Board’s recommendation will raise the level of organization and management of breeding business, thus contributing to the production of competitive breeding products and sustainable functioning of the livestock industry in the EAEU Member States.
Heads of Agricultural Policy Department informed the meeting participants about the development of an integrated information system of the agricultural sector, which ensures electronic data exchange between states, and also provides all the interested parties with the access to information. The subsystem is created by information resources about the main directions of the agreed agro-industrial policy, including two general processes.
During the meeting, the Committee members discussed having the EAEU countries implement general processes aimed at creating, maintaining and using a unified register of agricultural plants, as well as creating, maintaining and using a database on breeding animals and advances in the livestock selection.