Russia delays preferential tariff laws
agricultural products from certain countries has been endorsed by
Russia's parliament yet rejected by the upper house, reports
Chris Mercer.
The Duma passed the bill revising the law on Russia's Customs Tariff in order to provide protection for the country's agriculture sector to grow whilst also increasing consumption of agricultural products in Russia.
Tariff quotas offer preferential treatment because their rates are usually lower than normal customs duty taxes, yet the new bill states that tariff quotas can only be set in Russia where consumption of a product exceeds domestic production.
However, Russia's upper house, the Federation Council, rejected the revised customs bill and said it would need to set up a commission to work on corrections and make the bill clearer.
The bill is the latest in a long line of customs and trade barrier issues that have plagued producers in their dealings with Russia over the last year.
Loss-leading endorsed at Hungarian competition conference
Fierce competition between the supermarkets results in lower prices, wider product choice and better product quality for the consumers, said Britain's professor Dobson in a keynote speech at a conference held by the Hungarian Competition Authority.
Dobson gave tacit support for retailers wishing to sell certain goods below the cost of production alongside controls on market concentration and unfair competition.
The move could be worrying for food producers, who may see their margins squeezed even tighter by retailers if such a policy is allowed. Many Hungarian vegetable canners have already warned that they face ruin because of discount retailers and cheap imports.
Bernard Phillips, head of regional competition division, the OECD, also highlighted a study by the group revealing countries that had banned sales below production costs (loss-leading) had faced significant inflation rates, growing unemployment and declining macroeconomic indexes in a short time afterwards.
He added that in countries where fierce competition was present on the product markets, figures proved the positive influence of this on the GDP and the employment market.
