Tehran, Iran, May 26
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad - Trend:
An Iranian official said Ministry of Agriculture should pursue the issue that why the country’s merchants have failed to align the standards of their goods with those of Russia.
Iranian agricultural and dairy products do not comply with Russian standards, Behrouz Hassan Olfat, director of Europe and Americas department at the Trade Promotion Organization, said on May 26.
He added that this is why the Iranian merchants have not yet managed to gain a foothold in Russia’s market despite the opportunity for them to increase their exports as a result of tensions between Moscow and the West in recent years.
Olfat called on the Ministry of Agriculture to pursue the issue to its roots and remove the obstacle on the path of Iran’s exports.
Economic sanctions on Russia by the European Union were introduced on July 31, 2014, initially for one year in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine. They were reinforced in September 2014. They target the financial, energy and defense sectors, and the area of dual-use goods. Sanctions have been extended until January 31, 2017.
Enumerating the challenges facing Tehran-Moscow trade ties, experts say a lack of proper marketing and unawareness of the Russian market’s capacities, different hygienic standards applied in the two countries, visa complications, the tendency to consume European goods by Russians and a lack of reciprocal trust between merchants of the two sides are among the main obstacles that must be addressed.
According to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Iran exported 540,471 tons of goods to Russia worth $285.7 million in the period.
Iran’s export to Russia registered an increase by 30.6 percent in terms of value and 49 percent in terms of volume, respectively, year-on-year.
Food supplements, fruits and vegetables, raisins, dates, tomato paste, pistachios, carpets, petrochemicals and cement were among the main exports.
The country’s imports from Russia amounted to 1.373 million tons, worth $743,151 million in the 12-month period.
Imports mainly included electronic devices, grains, corn fodder, wood, paper and vehicles.