Agriculture Minister says authorities to lift wheat export restrictions early due to reserves
The absence of risks to food security now means farms will have the opportunity to sell existing wheat, with the decision of lifting the restriction coming three months ahead of its original projected end in July. Photo via IPN
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Georgian authorities will lift restrictions on export of wheat in advance due to “two to three months” worth of domestic reserves of wheat and flour and expectation of the next harvest in three months’ time, Agriculture Minister Otar Shamugia said on Monday.
Shamugia noted the decision to ban exports of wheat and barley had been made last summer based on “food security threats” and need to serve domestic demand.
He added restrictions on the latter had been removed after a review of the situation several months later, with the most recent analysis allowing the same decision to be made on wheat “in several days’ time”.
The absence of risks to food security now means farms will have the opportunity to sell existing wheat, with the decision of lifting the restriction coming three months ahead of its original projected end in July.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said he had instructed the country’s Economy Ministry to draft a bill to ensure reduction in domestic prices on food and oil.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday criticised oil and food importers in the country for “very high profits” facilitated through prices added to the “real cost” of the products, and instructing several ministers to set up a working group to negotiate a reduction.
Malkhaz Dolidze, the Head of the Georgian Bread Manufacturers Union, on Tuesday said prices of the product in Georgia were not expected to increase, and added efforts were actually being made to bring them down.
The Government of Georgia is imposing a temporary customs duty on import of wheat flour to support increasing the competitiveness of domestic producers and promote their sales on the local market, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Monday.