EEU takes step towards a single feed market

Members of the Eurasia Economic Union (EEU), a trade block of Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, may be on track to adopt a new technical regulation on feed products in a bid to facilitate cross-border trade.

The Russian Agricultural Ministry has published a draft technical regulation, setting a common standard for the production, transportation and storage of feed and feed additives. The document, originally scheduled to be adopted in 2023, is expected to be a game-changer for feed exports in the region.

expected to be a game-changer for feed exports in the region

Feed and feed additives manufacturers will bear certain costs associated with confirming compliance with new rules, but in exchange they will also benefit from recognition by all EEU countries, the authors of the regulation said in an explanatory note.

The regulation is called to ensure the safety of feed and feed additives across the EEU and create beneficial conditions for introducing advanced technologies.

Administrative hurdles

The lawmakers reported that the supply of feed between the EEU countries is difficult as of today since there is no unified system of requirements for feed production, labelling, and conformity assessment.

The explanatory note said:

Each country may have its own requirements for feed and feed additives, and producers must take into account all these requirements if they want to sell their products in more than one country.

The document stipulated that the technical regulation will eliminate excess administrative barriers for feed export, which will benefit the development of small and medium-sized businesses in this area.

There is no information on when the regulation may come into force.

Russian export prospects

As the largest feed manufacturer in the EEU, Russia is expected to benefit most from the adoption of unified feed standards.

In 2023, Russia manufactured 35 million tons of feed, 1.7% up compared with the previous year, the official statistical information indicated. Russia accounts for more than 80% of feed production in the EEU.

Russia exported a record 4.2 million tons of feed in 2021/2022 year, the last time the figure was made public. Nearly 2.1 million tons of feed landed in Turkey, 724,000 tons in Latvia, 191,000 tons in Italy, Agroexport, a Russian government agency disclosed.

In addition, Russia and Belarus export feed additives, primarily lysine, including to other EEU countries.