Russia's Food Revolution by Stephen K. Wegren

Author:Stephen K. Wegren [Wegren, Stephen K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367474249
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2020-09-22T00:00:00+00:00

Why did consumers not experience shortages even as food imports were declining? There are two main reasons why the food embargo did not have a significant effect on consumers. One reason was that domestic producers increased their production and benefited from the protectionism that the embargo offered. Domestic producers also benefited from enhanced state subsidies, credits, and loans that facilitated increased production and higher profits. Not only did domestic producers step up their production, they also moved into the product niches that had been occupied by imports. Domestic substitutes quickly appeared to replace Western products affected by the embargo. A second reason was the appearance of black markets for banned food products. To circumvent the embargo, “contraband” food, as termed by the Russian government, was smuggled through Belarus and Kazakhstan into Russia. As one example, Belarus, a landlocked country with no domestic fishing industry, became famous for its exports of seafood to Russia following the 2014 food embargo. In many cases, food labels were falsified as to country of origin, making it appear that Belarus was the origin, when in fact unscrupulous companies were re-exporting banned products under a Belarussian label. Using Belarus as an example again, the Russian government alleged that it was re-exporting Polish apples as its own. Russian officials charged that Belarus was exporting more apples than it produced. Contraband food ended up in Russian food stores and supermarkets. The important takeaways are that the state has not been successful in stopping black market contraband trade; and second, contraband food products support the diversification of food sources.

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