Tracking for agricultural products in Eurasian Economic Union after 2020
The official noted: "Eurasian Economic Union member states run into quite a large number of disputes over shipments of agricultural products these days. It seems to me that most of the relevant issues will be fixed by the freight traceability project. This matter is being actively discussed. We intend to push hard for it yet the practical implementation of the project to enable traceability for agricultural products will begin after 2020."
Karine Minasyan reminded that the Eurasian Economic Commission is now looking for possible projects to introduce digital technologies in agriculture. "So far we've received one initiative and it came from Belarus. The initiative named as Agronadzor suggests overseeing one branch of agriculture using digital technologies," she said. Apart from that, a project relating to digital transport corridors is being actively discussed.
"In practice we are talking about the creation of some ‘digital pipe' when freight transportation is accompanied by the relevant information. Such digital corridors can rule out having to stop vehicles at various transit points such as customs clearance stations. It is particularly useful if the cargo is a transit one. For instance: a company from Kazakhstan will be able to see that the vehicle bearing its cargo has entered Belarus or can track the vehicle's movement in Russia," explained the minister. The sides will have to come to terms about what they want implemented as part of this transport project. "This complicated task has multiple layers. Freight transportation is an industry with many aspects. We already have proposals to use digital seals from Russia. The Belarusian side has come up with similar proposals. Such seals may be tied, for instance, to the GLONASS system. If they are attached to a cargo container, then it will be possible to find its whereabouts at any time. What happens to the cargo will be recorded as well such as an unauthorized opening, unscheduled stops, and deviations from the designated route. But the seals are only an example. We should now come to terms about what the project needs to involve, whether we are going to use digital technologies for the paperwork or something else, too. It is important to decide how much the state will handle and how much the private sector will. There is a great deal of questions. We need to find a compromise," said Karine Minasyan, BelTA reports.