Fruit and vegetables imports from Ukraine will be banned from Wednesday for fear they may originate from the EU, Russia's consumer health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has said, reports GHN based on RT.
Any unmarked agricultural cargo coming from Ukraine to Russia runs the risk of originating from the European Union, which violates Russian sanctions against importing EU products.
"To date Rosselhoznadzor hasn't received a response from Ukrainian counterparts, and having taken into account the full range of threats and risks of the current situation, the deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Aleksey Saurin, has decided, as of tomorrow, to introduce temporary restriction on imports from Ukraine, as well as the transit of produce through its territory," RIA reports the watchdog as saying.
Russia's consumer hygiene authority said it has observed a sharp increase in imports of apples, tomatoes, cucumbers, pears and plums to Russia from Ukraine in August and September after the ban, compared to the same period last year.
The products don't meet Russian food safety regulations, which leads them to suspect they are not originally from Ukraine.