The Commission decided to preserve the current meat quota allocation mechanism in 2010 and said specific quotas would be allocated among companies importing pork, beef and poultry into Russia throughout 2009. The relevant quota shares will be calculated on the basis of the preceding three-year period (2007-2009). CIS-meat imports and beef costing over three euros per kilogram will not be taken into account.
The Commission decided to advise the Government to adjust commodity exchange prices for raw sugar, currently used to set customs duty rates, as well as import duty rates. It was proposed to raise commodity exchange prices from 4.5 - 9.01 cents per pound to 13-18 cents per pound and to stipulate the relevant import duty rates at $270-140 per tonne. Due to the lack of the required beet amounts for processing, the relevant commodity exchange prices and import duty rates in summer (May 1 through July 31) will total 13-22 cents per pound and $250-50 per tonne, respectively. In addition, the possible extension of the period for applying summertime rates in August-September will be discussed.
Aiming to apply easy-term import duties as regards devices for colostomy patients, commission members supported a proposal to specify the relevant product name in the Commodity List.
In conclusion, the Commission coordinated a decision to introduce 5% import duty rates for specific types of farming machinery, including continuous-action grain elevators, a number of loading systems, beet top cutters, threshers, seed cleaning and processing equipment.