Gov't To Set Raw Sugar And Rice Quotas For 2002

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeev told journalists today that in October the government commission on protective measures in foreign trade would consider the possibility of introducing a system of tariff quotas for raw sugar and rice for the next year. The raw sugar quota is currently equal 3.65 million tons. As for rice, "this question will be studied from the point of view of the consumption-purchase balance in order not to create a shortage of this product and spur rice prices." Gordeev stressed that approximately half of rice, which is consumed by the country, is provided by domestic producers, mainly those based in the Krasnodar region.