Decree No. 962 of the Cabinet of Ministers validating the Doctrine of national food security of the Republic of Belarus until 2030.

This cross-sectoral nationwide Doctrine of national food security of the Republic of Belarus until 2030 has as its scope the implementation of the State policy on national food security aimed at improving provision of the population with quality food and its availability for adequate nutrition and a healthy lifestyle through the development of competitive agricultural production and the creation of socio-economic conditions for the consumption of foodstuffs at a rational level. At present, the population of Belarus has achieved quantitative consumption norms for almost all foodstuffs, but the diet remains unbalanced in terms of quality. A transition to a new level of development to a safe and quality diet for all social groups is necessary, and the formation of the prerequisites for it in the form of criteria and standards for food supply is an integral part of this Doctrine. Food security is an essential component of national security and a necessary condition for the implementation of the strategic national priority - ensuring high living standards of the population and conditions for the harmonious development of the individual. The level of development of national (domestic) production of agricultural commodities, raw materials and foodstuffs in the Republic of Belarus reached in 2013-2015 allows guaranteeing physical accessibility of foodstuffs for the population in the energy assessment of 3400 kilocalories per person per day. The achieved volumes of agrarian production not only correspond to the optimistic level of food security, but also allow increasing the export of agricultural commodities and foodstuffs, ensuring the flow of foreign currency. At the same time, the results of the annual monitoring of food security testify to the fact that a number of problems persist in the country, primarily in the economic and social spheres. Thus, the current level of labor productivity in agriculture does not allow providing sufficient parameters of its efficiency and competitiveness in the domestic and foreign markets. Insufficient purchasing power of the population and economic affordability of products remain a deterrent to the improvement of the diet of the population. The lack of growth in the real income of the population makes it impossible to maintain a balanced diet. Households with children remain the most vulnerable to risks to food security. Significant differences in the diet of the urban and rural population remain. The reason for this is the insufficient level of rural population's income and efficiency of food supply to the territories. There is a dependence of caloric content of nutrition on the level of income of the population. In this regard, improving the quality of nutrition of the population and increasing the consumption of ecological and organic products in the country are primarily associated with ensuring its economic accessibility for all categories of the population.
Ensuring the national food security of the Republic of Belarus is associated with the influence of external and internal factors and threats. External factors reducing the sustainability of food security are: (a) concentration and monopolization of production and export of agricultural products, raw materials and foodstuffs by economically developed countries and their increasing dominance in the world market; (b) increasing requirements to the quality of food products in the world market, which determine the effectiveness of the export policy of Belarus; (c) increasing use of protectionist measures by economically developed countries, including increased state support of the national producers; and (d) increasing competition within international and regional trade and economic formations, including the Eurasian Economic Union (hereinafter - EAEU). Internal factors affecting the sustainability of food security include: (a) instability of agricultural production due to its dependence on natural and climatic conditions; (b) environmental stress caused by the adverse effects of the Chernobyl disaster; (c) degradation of agricultural land caused by anthropogenic and (or) natural factors; (d) insufficient level of innovation in the production, storage and trade of foodstuffs, including the production of ecological foodstuffs; (e) insufficient rates of improvement of living standards and the quality of nutrition of the population; (f) outpacing the growth of prices for consumer goods over the increase of incomes of the population; (g) disparity of prices for agricultural raw materials, means of production, services consumed in the agrarian sphere and finished products; (h) insufficient level of development of market infrastructure, especially in rural areas, as well as mechanisms of its stimulation; and (i) the mentality of a certain part of the population oriented towards distribution relations, which does not allow the effective use of market methods of labor motivation. The aforesaid factors in a certain combination form potential risks for food security.
The main objectives of ensuring national food security shall be set forth as follows: (a) sustainable development of domestic production of basic agricultural commodities, raw materials and foodstuffs sufficient to ensure food independence and realization of the export potential of the agro-industrial complex, including the development of production of new agricultural commodities in demand in the world market, including organic ones; (b) ensuring safety and quality of agricultural raw materials and foodstuffs, including the transition to a system of quality assessment according to international standards, improving regulatory requirements for food safety for human health at all stages of the technological cycle (seed and pedigree production - agricultural machinery system - farming and crop production - animal husbandry - storage - processing and marketing); (c) achieving a high level of physical and economic accessibility for the population of safe and quality food products in the volume and range required for an active and healthy lifestyle; (d) timely identification, assessment, forecasting and prevention of internal and external risks for food security, minimizing their negative impact through the formation of strategic stocks of agricultural commodities, raw materials and foodstuffs, as well as operational monitoring of the state of food vulnerability of specific categories of the population; (e) formation of culture of nutrition of the population oriented to the consumption of high quality foodstuffs, including organic products; (d) formation of a high level of literacy of the population in the food sphere by informing on a permanent basis about the state of food security, public measures for the improvement of the quality of life, as well as about the opportunities available to improve the culture of nutrition and health.
The main criteria for achieving the goal of developing national food security by 2030 shall be set forth as follows: (a) sustainable development and improvement of the efficiency of the agro-food complex through: achieving the volume and structure of production of crop and livestock products, allowing to balance the demand and supply of the most important types of agricultural products, raw materials and foodstuffs; (b) saturation of the domestic market with quality domestically produced foodstuffs (with an increase in the share of healthy foodstuffs and organic foodstuffs up to 20 per cent); and (c) increasing the efficiency of foreign trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs.
Expected results: implementation of the main provisions of the present Doctrine will make it possible to increase the level of food security up to the level of optimistic in terms of the most important components; physical accessibility - by 10 percent; the quality of nutrition of the population - by 25 percent by improving the structure of consumption and increasing the share of healthy foodstuffs and organic products in the diet of the population.