Farmers will be allowed to open shops and sell products on their land - right in the field or in the premises of livestock farms. This initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture was approved by the government commission on legislative activity. After consideration at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, the project will be submitted to the State Duma. Now this practice is prohibited, which creates additional obstacles to the sale of farm products and contributes to higher prices, experts say.
The initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture is likely to be supported by the State Duma, the deputies of different factions said. According to them, most likely, it will be considered by the lower house in the next session. True, the producers themselves are not sure that buyers will be able to get to most of their lands, and they call the idea just one of the steps in the right direction.
The bill of the Ministry of Agriculture to allow farmers to open shops on their land will be submitted to the State Duma after consideration at a meeting of the Cabinet, the press service of the Russian government specified. This initiative was approved by the government commission on legislative activity on June 29.
The document empowers peasant farms and agricultural cooperatives to sell products directly on their own land plots, said Vladimir Gruzdev, a member of the legal commission, chairman of the board of the Russian Lawyers' Association.
At the same time, a limitation is provided, he said. The placement of non-stationary shopping facilities is prohibited on plots related to arable land, ameliorative land or especially valuable productive farmland.
New opportunities for farmers are especially important due to the existing problems of their interaction with retail chains, said the head of the Just Russia faction Sergei Mironov.
- Networks buy products from suppliers at low prices, return unsold products back, introduce the so-called “marketing fee”, impose and dictate their terms to producers. This is the main problem, because of which farms cannot enter large trading floors. It shouldn't be like that. The farmer should become the main one in the food supply chain for citizens, the deputy noted.
Farmers are happy with any initiative that allows them to expand sales channels, said the head of the Semigorye estate, chairman of the Union of Wine Farms Gennady Oparin.
- The only question is which of the buyers will be ready to go to the farmer to buy products in the field? It's one thing when farmland is close to the federal highway. But if not, I doubt the buyer will be comfortable traveling far, he said.
The bill will still see life, and after its entry into force, as it is implemented, it will be further refined, believes Dmitry Uvarov, a member of the Russian Lawyers' Association.