Chief of the Russian armed forces general staff travels to Japan.

MOSCOW, September 28 (Itar-Tass) - General Nikolai Makarov, the chief
of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, begins his visit to Japan on
Tuesday.
"Under the visit's program, he will hold talks with General Ryoichi
Oriki, the chief of staff of Japan's Self Defence Forces, and Japanese
Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa," the press service of the Russian
Defence Ministry told Itar-Tass.
"During the talks the sides will discuss prospects of Russian-Japanese
military cooperation and exchange views on how to strengthen security in
the Asia-Pacific region," the Ministry of Defence clarified.
The same day, General Makarov will visit a military garrison in Asaka
where he will get acquainted with the training process, infrastructure and
the training base of the first infantry division of Japan's Self-Defence
Forces.
General Makarov will return to Moscow on September 29.

. Russia to lift grain export ban when it becomes possible- Skrynnik.

GENEVA, September 28 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Agriculture Minister Yelena
Skrynnik told Itar-Tass on Monday that an export ban on Russian grain was
a temporary measure, which is going to be lifted as soon as it becomes
possible in terms of food security.
She had met representatives of the Kern Group of agrarian exporters as
part of consultations on Russia's accession to the WTO. The Kern Group
comprises Australia, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Paraguay, Pakistan,
Thailand, the Philippines, etc.
"As soon as we get information on the volumes of this year's harvest,
we will certainly lift all the bans if it's going to be possible in terms
of food security," the Russian agriculture minister went on to say. She
said that 58.2 million tons of grain has already been collected in Russia.
There are 26 million tons worth of grain stocks plus the harvest, which is
yet to be gathered. All in all, the overall grain reserve is estimated at
90 million tons while grain consumption is 77 million tons.
The minister refused to comment on whether growth in the agricultural
sector might fall. She suggested waiting for the balances on grain and
harvest volumes. It will be possible to sum up the results only after
harvests have been gathered in the Siberia, the Urals and the Krasnodar
territory. The Russian agriculture minister believes that the harvest
campaign may be over on October 1 or October 15 dependent on weather
conditions.
Russia's ban on grain exports was a subject for discussion at the
Geneva consultations on Russia's accession to the WTO. The ban was imposed
in August after abnormal drought destroyed 30% of all grain crops.
Skrynnik said that those measures were in line with Russia's international
obligations. "Staring from the day we join the WTO, we will strictly
follow the organization's recommendations. We are going to lift the ban if
the organization decides that it doesn't meet the WTO rules," the Russian
agriculture minister explained.
Commenting on the recent report of the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO), Skrynnik denied allegations that Russia's export ban
on grain had largely provoked the growth of world grain prices. She said
that world grain prices had started going up long before Russia imposed a
ban on grain exports.
In the meantime, the world's leading agricultural producers have
supported Russia's plan to subsidise its agriculture at a level of nine
billion dollars a year.
"The Kern Group's ambassadors supported our position and assessed it
positively," Skrynnik said. She explained that there were three main items
of the Russian stance: fixed commitments to maintain agricultural
subsidies at a level of nine billion dollars a year since the date of
accession to the WTO; a fixed schedule of reducing subsidies and
non-application of export subsidies since the date of accession.
Apart from that, Skrynnik held a meeting with representatives of the
U.S. delegation who also supported Russia's position and said they were
ready to support Russia 's bid to join the WTO.
Negotiations to work out Russia's final obligations for granting state
subsidies to agriculture after joining the WTO will be held at a level of
experts in Geneva late in October.
Experts believe that agriculture remains one of the main disputable
issues on Russia's way to the WTO. Other problem issues are export duties,
the size of state subsidies to enterprises and the protection of
intellectual property.

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