President Medvedev signing Russia's Food Safety Doctrine

On 1 February 2010 Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev signed the executive order concerning the Russian Federation's Food Security Doctrine, reports www.megafishnet.com (www.fishnet.ru) with reference to the President's official website.

The doctrine aims to guarantee reliable food supplies for the population, develop agriculture and fisheries, respond swiftly to internal and external threats on the food market, and participate effectively in international cooperation on food security.

The President instructed the Government to draft and approve a work plan for implementing the doctrine's provisions and report to the president on an annual basis with an analysis, assessment and forecast of the country's food security situation.

The doctrine builds on provisions in the National Security Strategy through to 2020, and also takes into account the provisions of the Maritime Doctrine through to 2020, approved earlier by the President.

It also takes into account the UN World Food Organization's recommendations on the maximum share of imports and volume of food reserves. 

The doctrine states that accession to the World Trade Organization on conditions that meet Russia's national interests will bolster the country's food security.

The document sets the share of domestically produced meat, fish and other foodstuffs in the overall volume of supplies of the respective products on the domestic market, and uses these figures as the criteria for evaluating the food security situation.

The threshold values set by the doctrine are: not less than 95 percent for grain; not less than 80 percent for sugar; not less than 80 percent for vegetable oil; not less than 85 percent for meat; not less than 90 percent for milk; not less than 80 percent for fish; not less than 95 percent for potatoes; not less than 85 percent for table salt.  

The doctrine outlines the risks and threats for Russia's food security, the main vectors for state economic and social policy in this area, the mechanisms and resources for ensuring food security, and the tasks before the Government, the state bodies of power, and the Russian Security Council.