Russia still says no to potato and seed sector

The expectations were positive, but the doors to Russia are still closed for the European potato and seed potato sector. Russia still says 'no' to these products from Europe.

The situation is still alarming, according to Romain Cools from Belgapom.

"Russia is looking for seed products, but they don't really need us for fresh potatoes. They have opened the borders for Pakistan and Egypt for ware potatoes. A strange situation to be importing ware potatoes from Egypt. The Russians are happy with the controls done by Egyptian authorities when they leave Egypt, otherwise, for seed potatoes from Europe, but they don't accept an audit by the controlling system in every EU-member state and a control by the national authorized authorities at departure."

"Russia isn't only closed for the potato and seed sector, but also European pork is banned," said Romain. They have found an alternative for pork, American pork. More and more, it seems to be a question of politics.

Romain Cools expects that next month the potato prices will be under pressure. "The prices already decreased on the physical market and the futures market. This will go on. If there is export from an unexpected corner, it could be a turning-point. We can not loose sight of that in almost every EU-country the consumption of fresh potatoes decreased in the past months by 5 to 10%.