The Ministry of Agriculture proposes amendments to the Tax Code, providing for a ten percent reduction in the rate of value added tax on seed products.
The rate of value added tax on seed production in Russia may soon be reduced. The Ministry of Agriculture made such a proposal. Senators support the initiative of the relevant department, however, they believe that targeted measures for the full development of seed production are not enough. A new law on seed production is needed. What this document should be was discussed at a meeting in the Federation Council dedicated to improving legislation in the field of selection and seed production in the Russian Federation.
Three important steps
The head of the Chamber of Regions Valentina Matvienko drew attention to the low level of import substitution in the field of seed production during her working trip to the Leningrad Region. “We have to grow our own seeds, of which our own seedlings and our own products, so that there is a complete closed cycle,” said the speaker.
Indeed, against the backdrop of a clear growth in the agro-industrial complex, as evidenced by the high yields of recent years and increasing exports of agricultural products, a serious problem was missed - a shortage of domestic planting material. In this area, the dominance of imports has not yet been reversed. So, for some types of crops, the share of foreign planting material reaches 90 percent, which is a real threat to the country's food security.
The Federation Council took this very seriously - and in the spring of this year, recommendations of senators were sent to the Government to rectify the situation in domestic seed production. Much attention was paid to changes in legislation.
At a meeting this week, the director of the department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Roman Nekrasov, said that his department has developed and are ready to submit to the State Duma three legislative amendments. They relate to the reduction of the tax burden for domestic seed producers, new measures to protect the copyright of breeders and the protection of the domestic market from genetically modified seeds.
“These measures are the most important steps that can give an impetus to the development of domestic seed production and selection,” said Sergey Lisovsky, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management, assessed the proposals of the ministry.
Seed growers will support royalties
World experience shows that seed production is not only a guarantor of the country's food security, but also a highly profitable business. In Russia, where there were world-class breeding schools, such a business has all the opportunities for development. However, this is not happening today.
The expansion of the largest foreign producers of seed material into our market and their dumping policy have deprived domestic producers of the opportunity to sell their products. As for the cultivation of new varieties, the situation for domestic breeders was simply disastrous. Due to imperfect legislation, breeders' rights were unprotected. Buying seeds from pilot farms, today anyone can reproduce them without paying a dime to the breeders.
Sergey Lisovsky. Photo: Federation Council Press Service
Roman Nekrasov recalled that the so-called royalty mechanism operates in this case all over the world. Royalties are deductions from users of an "author's product" who reproduce it themselves. The mechanism of such deductions operates, for example, in book publishing (the author receives a percentage for each copy of his book printed by the publishing house), as well as in the world of show business for the performance of songs, and so on.
“Similar norms of copyright protection are in the Civil Code,” Roman Nekrasov recalled, noting that it was necessary to extend them to seed breeders. “And it’s important to enter into the code the criteria for calculating royalties, setting a minimum value for its rate.”
Another important measure proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture is the tightening of liability for violations associated with the use of seeds of transgenic modified plants. Today, taking advantage of the growing demand of our farms for seed material and the complete absence of domestic seeds on the market, foreign suppliers often send here planting material of transgenic plants, the consequences of which have not yet been studied.
Roman Nekrasov. Photo: Federation Council Press Service
The increase in fines (there were proposals to raise them to a million rubles) should, according to Roman Nekrasov, stop the flow of foreign seed material of unknown origin into our country and stimulate the domestic producer.
The steps towards tax incentives, for example, the reduction of VAT, are aimed at the same. This measure fully justified itself. So, in the spring, a law was adopted to reduce the VAT on fruit and berry products, as a result, according to the results of the harvest this year, the Ministry of Agriculture recorded an increase in apple production by several thousand tons.
All this, according to Roman Nekrasov, will help to achieve the indicators of import substitution in seed production. In the field of potato growing, for example, these are the production by 2024 of 18 thousand tons of seed material and the development of 12 new domestic varieties of potatoes.
The new law will be in the spring
However, the achievement of such results by 2024 is doubtful by many experts. “This is only possible if not only research centers that receive state support, but also a private business that sees the possibility of a reliable investment in seed production” is included in the selection work, ”Sergey Lisovsky said.
In his opinion, such conditions have not been created in our market. First of all, because while there is a large amount of counterfeit products on the market (according to experts, its share can reach up to 30 percent), it is difficult for a conscientious manufacturer to compete on it.
“Today, in pursuit of cheap imported material, we buy garbage,” says Arkady Zlochevsky, President of the Russian Grain Union. - Poor quality of seeds, their high weediness and actual substandardness are the main problems. Substandard seeds of the farm are planted up to 30 percent. Under such conditions, the variety realizes its yield by only one third. In addition, they sell us seeds that are not subject to reproduction, which means that next year the farm is again forced to purchase seeds and the necessary chemicalization kits for their use. "
To clear the market of seed falsification, according to Sergei Lisovsky, a new law on seed production is needed. The former was adopted in 1997 and today is hopelessly outdated. Therefore, in his opinion, one of the main directions of this document should be the introduction of a unified system of certification of seed circulating in our market, as well as a system of traceability of its movement.
As for the latter, the experience of introducing such a system has already been tested on alcohol-containing products and has shown excellent results. It is planned to introduce a similar system for wood products, followed by seeds.
Low quality of seeds, their high weediness and actual substandardity are the main problems. Substandard seed farms are planted up to 30 percent.
Lisovsky also recalled that today there are many questions to the accompanying documentation for seeds supplied from abroad. “According to the documents, it seems like elite seeds, but in fact it turns out that we are buying substandard seeds. It is impossible to check this immediately; as a result, the farms suffer losses. And no one is responsible for this, ”the senator complained.
He noted that the main direction of the work of the agrarian committee of the Federation Council should be the preparation of the text of the new law jointly with the Government. “We hope that by the next season of spring field work it will have already been submitted to the State Duma,” stated Sergei Lisovsky.
Source: https://yandex.ru/