Rosselkhoznadzor banned the export of 87 grain shipments from the Tyumen region of the Russian Federation to Kazakhstan and China. As the department explained, the reason for blocking shipments was the lack of a complete list of all necessary grain studies. As stated in Kazakhstan, grain that does not meet phytosanitary requirements is dangerous in terms of the introduction of diseases and pests, reports the APK News agency.
“119 grain shipments were planned for shipment in January, but in 87 cases (75% of all shipments) the documents were completed with violations. There is a very high percentage of incorrectly completed accompanying documentation,” Rosselkhoznadzor told the URA.RU portal.
Violations were found among large importers - Zavodoukovsky Creamery LLC, Greinkom LLC, Ishimsky KHP LLC. One of the key violations is the lack of a complete list of all necessary studies of the product being shipped.
The Grain Union of Kazakhstan commented on this fact to the APK News agency. As the official representative of the union, Evgeniy Karabanov, explained, the exporters, apparently, did not provide a full package of documents (phytosanitary certificate, declaration of conformity, quality certificate), and grain without documents confirming its quality and safety is potentially dangerous.
“In addition, grain that does not meet phytosanitary requirements is dangerous in terms of the introduction of dangerous diseases and pests. Therefore, we can only thank Rosselkhoznadzor for its vigilance,” said E. Karabanov.
Meanwhile, a major Kazakh trader expressed the opinion that the suppression of the export of Russian grain means that there is very little of it in the Tyumen region.
“This is a so-called unspoken ban. The government artificially slows down the export of grain, without an official ban. This means that there is very little grain in the Tyumen region. Their situation is the same as ours: there were rains, they harvested little, or everything that sprouted did not meet the quality. But it is worth noting that grain is slowly being transported from Kuragan. They bring little from Omsk and Tyumen. This means they also have a small supply, and by spring there will be even less. I think that in February Russia may decide to introduce an official ban on the export of its grain,” Kazakh trader Amir Butyrkhanov told the APK News agency.
Flour millers say that no amount of money can force them to buy bad grain, for example, sprouted and contaminated grain.
“The Ministry of Agriculture imposed bans on us. Why is this being done? In order to force millers to buy bad grain. But no one will buy themselves, let’s say, a problem with their own money. In the situation with Rosselkhoznadzor, I think that the agency simply reported that it was working,” a representative of the grain processing industry in Kazakhstan expressed his opinion.
As Evgeny Karabanov noted, Russian grain growers have previously made attempts to import grain into the Republic of Kazakhstan without documents confirming quality and safety. In 2020, Rosselkhoznadzor even stated that it was concerned about the increasing attempts to illegally export grain and flour to Kazakhstan. It was reported that attempts at shipments without the necessary documents were systematically detected. In September, as the cleaning was completed, the number of violations detected increased by 60%. In 2021, attempts to illegally import grain intensified again. In 2022 they got worse. During the year, 70 attempts to export 1.3 thousand tons of grain to Kazakhstan without phytosanitary certificates, with invalid documents, and without declarations on grain safety were stopped.