EU: COLDIRETTI PUGLIA, DUTIES ON RUSSIAN WHEAT START TODAY 1/7 AFTER +1004% ARRIVALS; STANG FROM 95 EURO/TON
From today, July 1st, the duties on Russian wheat will be applied, decided by the European Union after a real invasion of the product from Moscow was recorded, with imports increasing by 1004% compared to the previous year, an important measure for the survival of 38 thousand agricultural companies in Puglia, the Granary of Italy, with the wild arrivals of wheat from abroad having a disruptive effect on the prices paid to farmers, which have collapsed below production costs. Coldiretti Puglia reminds us of this, on the occasion of the entry into force of the regulation that increases the import duties of all cereals, oilseeds and derived products from the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, so that they cannot access the EU market under conditions as favorable as products from other origins. In the case of wheat, it will be an additional duty of 95 euros per ton.
This is a measure decided by the EU Commission to put a stop to what is considered an attempt by Putin to destabilize the community market, even if to protect Italian farmers a change of pace is necessary with the adoption of structural European policies of defense of income, starting from the affirmation of the principle of reciprocity. The rules that are followed by national agricultural companies must also apply to those who want to sell their products on EU markets. Furthermore, in the cultivation of Russian wheat – Coldiretti reports – substances are used that are not permitted in Europe, such as the herbicide Fenoxaprop P ethyl but also Glyphosate, the desiccant banned in Italy in pre-harvest and also used on Canadian wheat, in addition to Pirimiphos methyl insecticide fumigant.
In 2023, there was an invasion of Russian durum wheat for pasta never recorded before in history, with almost half a million tons entering our country, reducing the price of Italian wheat by up to -60%. These are values that – notes Coldiretti – bring cultivation well below production costs, making it uneconomical and exposing agricultural companies to the risk of bankruptcy, especially in internal areas without production alternatives. This invasion was also joined by that from Turkey, a country often subject to triangulation of the same Russian wheat.
Arrivals from Ankara have also increased in 2024, just on the eve of the threshing in Italy, with the paradox that despite the serious drop in production estimated at -20% due to the drought in the South, national wheat is still paid less than last year.
The European free trade agreements are under accusation – insists Coldiretti Puglia – for which unfair imports must be stopped, decisively introducing the principle of reciprocity to ensure that all products entering the Union respect the same standards from an environmental, health and labor standards perspective as those foreseen in the internal market, since unfair competition that puts at risk the health of citizens and the survival of agricultural businesses is intolerable. Arrivals from Turkey are also increasing, and there is also a suspicion of triangulation from Russia.
The choice of the EU ministers – concludes Coldiretti – is a first step towards a decisive stop to unfair imports and a response to the protection of farmers’ income, after the Agriculture Decree allocated 20 million euros more for wheat supply chain contracts.
Precisely to affirm the principle of reciprocity and total transparency on all food products sold on EU markets, Coldiretti has started a major mobilization at the borders, from Brenner to the ports with the collection of one million signatures to impose the obligation of indication of origin on the label and change the customs code.
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