The event was attended by the President of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO Andrei Sharonov, Director of the Center for Agri-Food Policy IPEI RANEPA under the President of Russia Natalia Shagaida, Honorary Chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Sergey Karaganov, Director of the FAO office for relations with Russia Evgeny Serova, Director of Cooperation with the government of X5 Retail Group Stanislav Naumov, head of the Committee on Agricultural Policy “Business Russia” Andrei Danilenko.

Earlier, at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, the Consumer Market Development Center together with the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a number of discussions were held on the Analytical review of the state of food security of Russia prepared by the Center for Agricultural and Food Policy IPEI RANEPA under the President of Russia.

The Government, the Security Council and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation considered the proposals prepared by the Consumer Market Development Center of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO.

“Following the discussions with representatives of industry associations of food producers, retail chains, consumer market participants, experts from leading scientific and educational institutions, final recommendations for the Doctrine were prepared, which we sent to the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the government, the presidential administration and two key departments on this topic - the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry and Trade,”said Andrei Sharonov. “Taking into account the fulfillment of the previously set tasks, the changed socio-economic situation in the country and the world, there is a subjective and objective point in updating the Doctrine,” added Sharonov.

The task of the current Doctrine 2010-2020. - Reliable provision of the population with affordable and safe food. When the main criterion for assessing the state of food security in it is the proportion of domestic food in total consumption, without taking into account its cost for the population.

To date, the planned values of the Doctrine have been reached or exceeded for all products except dairy products (according to the Ministry of Agriculture, provision in 2017 is 82.4% instead of 90%) and salt. In 2017, the rates of per capita consumption recommended by the Ministry of Health were reached or exceeded for major products. Close to the norms of the total caloric intake and protein content - 94-98%. For 2013-2017 food, imports fell by 33%, while exports grew by 28%. In 2017, Russia ranked 41 among 113 countries in the Global Food Security Index ranking, ahead of all its partners in the EEU, CIS and BRICS (except Brazil), although behind the United States and EU countries (except Bulgaria).

Recently, however, there has been a decline in the availability of food for the population. Over the past four years, the share of food expenditures increased by 6.2% and reached an average of 54.4% in household expenditures. It is obvious that the tasks of import substitution are not enough.

“In Russia, food security primarily means self-sufficiency, which is not economically justified in terms of the availability of these products to the public,” comments negative trend Natalya Shagaida. “Thus, there is a conflict in the Doctrine itself. Deterioration of food security (increase in the share of expenditures of the population) while improving food independence (growth of Russian production). Food and national security in this case are closely intertwined,”summarizes Shaidaid.

Sergey Karaganov, who took part in the press conference, clarified that there are several fundamental parameters that differ from the moment of adoption of the Doctrine. It is about the long-term and politicized nature of Western economic sanctions and global climate change on the planet. In addition, according to the expert, it is better to invest in the development of his or her own reproduction (genetics, seed production) than in the arms race.

Evgenia Serova said that the initial concept of world food security, developed by FAO, unlike the Russian version, implies that the Doctrine is an interdisciplinary document. “If the Doctrine becomes a document of one department, then it is likely that it will become a lobbying tool,” added Serova.

The expert also identified another escalating world problem that needs to be taken into account in the new Doctrine. We are talking about food losses, which constitute one third of all food produced for human consumption, reaching 1.3 billion tons per year.

According to Andrei Danilenko, the current Doctrine corresponded to the situation at the time of its adoption, now it is necessary to combine interdepartmental efforts and with the involvement of the business community to find ways to solve more complex strategic and infrastructure issues, including the introduction of the latest global scientific achievements.

“The next stage is not only the export of raw materials and finished products, but also the adaptation of our manufacturers to the rules of the game outside of Russia. The extent to which domestic companies can be competitive in foreign markets perfectly demonstrates the real effectiveness of their activities, as well as the favorableness of the created business environment in the country. After all, a significant share in the cost of production is occupied by the costs of fulfilling the numerous and constantly changing requirements of control and supervisory bodies. The task of reducing administrative barriers should not be ignored in the new Doctrine,”concluded Danilenko.

Stanislav Naumov continued the topic, noting that today in the country, under the pretext of ensuring food security, several contradictory information traceability information systems are being introduced simultaneously. As a result, risks only accumulate and become more serious. To see the real risks on which the government’s attention needs to be focused and not to leave the document, as a “workbook” are key tasks in the formation of the new Doctrine, Naumov said. Stanislav Naumov, who repeatedly addressed the problem of food availability during the press conference, proposes to solve through direct subsidies to the final consumer: “We need to create a program of targeted food aid that will highlight such categories as, for example, large families, and people of older age categories”.

According to the participants of the press conference, in a situation where the main indicators of the Doctrine have been achieved, it is necessary to focus on improving the existing standards of safety and quality of life of the population.