Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- At a meeting of the Intergovernmental Council on the Agro-Industrial Complex of the Union of Independent States (Agroindustrial Complex of the CIS) held on Thursday, one of the first issues on the agenda was the election of the chairman of the Intergovernmental Council on Agro-Industrial Complex of the CIS. In accordance with the Regulation of the Council, the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Khodjaev has been appointed for the next term.

The meeting of the Intergovernmental Council on the CIS Agro-Industrial Complex was held with the participation of ministers and deputy ministers of agriculture of Armenia, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The Intergovernmental Council on the CIS Agro-Industrial Complex was established in accordance with the Agreement on Interstate Relations on the Agro-Industrial Complex of 29 March 1993. The Republic of Uzbekistan joined the Council's activities as a full member on 26 July 2018. The chairmanship of the Council is carried out in turn by each member state of the Commonwealth represented by its representative on the basis of the principle of rotation for a period of one year.

Within the framework of the meeting of the Intergovernmental Council on the CIS Agro-Industrial Complex, a number of issues were discussed, among which was the issue of simplifying the procedures for the import of agricultural products between the CIS member states, indicated by Jamshid Khojaev.

As the Minister of Agriculture of Uzbekistan noted, trade with the CIS countries occupies a leading position in the export of agricultural products of Uzbekistan and shows dynamic growth over the years.

“About 70-80% of our supplies are directed to the countries of the Commonwealth. For grapes, cabbage, tomatoes, apricots, apples, persimmons and other 37 items of fruits and vegetables, the CIS countries are the main buyers for Uzbekistan. At the same time, in order to avoid oversupply or deficit in the markets for some food items in the Commonwealth countries, it is important to coordinate the efforts of the participating states to exchange reliable data on the volume of crops cultivation,” Jamshid Khojaev suggested to the meeting participants.

Also, as a fundamentally important point, he outlined the need to avoid quotas, which will leave the markets of the CIS countries open and free for stable mutual trade in agricultural products. Disruptions in trade due to the introduction of export restrictions, according to the minister, can lead to higher prices for a number of socially important food products.

At the end of his speech, Khodjaev suggested that the member states of the Intergovernmental Council on the CIS Agro-Industrial Complex create a unified technical standard or regulations for the functioning of food wholesale and logistics centers in order to establish a close connection between all wholesale depots and agrological centers of the CIS countries.

“This will undoubtedly allow us to promptly respond to recurring deficits in the food markets and further strengthen the food security of all countries of the Commonwealth,” the minister stressed.

Following the speech of Jamshid Khodjayev, the Intergovernmental Council on the CIS Agro-Industrial Complex recommended that the members of the Council, by 1 March 2021, send to the Secretariat proposals on simplifying the procedures for the import of agricultural products between the CIS member states to prepare an appropriate Plan. The draft Plan is planned to be considered at the next meeting of the council.