MOSCOW: Russia’s agriculture ministry has no plans to cancel export tariffs on sunflower seeds, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday citing a deputy agriculture minister. Some lawmakers have called for the tariff to be scrapped in the face of falling prices.

Russia’s sunflower seeds are subject to a 50% export tariff until Aug. 31, 2023, with the minimum charge set at $320 per tonne.

In March, a group of lawmakers in Russia’s parliament called on the government to cancel the duties on at least 2 million tonnes of exports due to falling prices, while industry figures have said there are backlogs in processing and declining quality in the stocks which are being kept in reserve.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said Russia saw a record oilseeds harvest in 2022 of 29 million tonnes, while Russia’s oilseed processing capacity is around 26-28 million tonnes.

Lut said the government was working on increasing Russia’s processing capacity and expects to boost processing capacity by 3 million tonnes over the next year, Interfax reported.

An industry body estimates Russia’s agriculture industry has 8 million tonnes of sunflower seeds in reserve, but will only be able to process 6.4 million tonnes domestically by the end of the season.