Turkey removes Russian wheat from import list
Turkey has unexpectedly removed Russian wheat from an import license scheme, effectively disrupting Russia’s shipments to its second-biggest wheat export market, according to trade and industry sources. Import licenses issued by the Turkish government no longer included Russia in a list of tax-free accepted origins as of March 15, the sources said. This would effectively close off the Turkish market to Russian wheat as exports from countries not included in the import scheme have to pay a prohibitive tariff of 130 percent, several sources said.
“There is a restriction for Russian wheat,” Zekeriya Mete, head of Turkey’s exporters association for grains, pulses, vegetables and oilseeds, said. “There isn’t a formal note on this but Russia has been removed from the list of countries from which we could import tax-free,” he said. Turkish government officials did not immediately confirm the decision. Russia’s Agriculture Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Under the import scheme, buyers in Turkey are allowed to import certain products with no duty as long as they process and then export the same amount, Mete said. “The new import licenses do not include Russia as an origin, therefore de facto you cannot import Russian wheat,” said a Turkish miller who imports wheat. Turkey bought 1.9 million tonnes of Russian wheat from July 2016 to January 2017. Russian exporters continued sending wheat and maize to Turkey on March 15-16, Russian news agency TASS reported yesterday. Mete said new shipments were unlikely.
Normalization
Turkish importers, including millers who benefit from import licenses as part of a system that supports Turkey’s large flour exports, may be able to bring in wheat that was shipped from Russia before March 15 but the status of subsequent shipments was less clear, he said. The Turkish government had not explained the policy change, according to several sources, some of whom said it may be connected with a previous spat between Turkey and Russia.
Mete said the move may be related to Russia’s failure to lift all restrictions on imports of Turkish fruit and vegetables despite positive governmental steps and a meeting between the two countries’ presidents last week in Moscow. Russia had imposed damaging trade restrictions on Turkish goods after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border in Nov 2015.
The two countries restored ties in August and Moscow had lifted most of the restrictions but it is yet to resume purchases of tomatoes and some other products from Turkey. A Kremlin spokesman said on Friday that the problems over wheat supplies were unlikely to affect the normalization of ties. A Russian exporters’ lobby, the National Association of Agriculture Exporters, sent a letter to Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev on Thursday asking him “to take energetic measures” to resolve the matter. — Reuters