Russia banned the import of African fruit through Belarus – RBC

Photo: Denis Abramov / TASS

In Rosselkhoznadzor announced to ban the import of a number of fruits from Africa through Belarus. The department explained the decision to doubt the authenticity of the certificates of Nigeria, Guinea and other countries. The ban will come into force on July 1

Rosselkhoznadzor made a decision to ban the import into Russia through Belarus pears, apples, strawberries, tomatoes, mushrooms, melons, grapes, figs, cherries and onions from a number of African countries. The ministry statement says that the decision was made due to doubts about the validity of certificates issued by the phytosanitary services of several African countries, and the ability to import under the guise of African goods has fallen under the embargo of crop production in the EU.

In this regard, from 1 July 2016 import to Russia of the above kinds of vegetables and fruits from Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Nigeria, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic and Mali permitted only through international checkpoints on the state border of Russia.

On March 1, Rosselkhoznadzor halted shipments through Belarus plant products from Liberia, Kenya and India. The decision was also explained certificates forgery danger of these countries and the possibility that the real place of origin of fruits and vegetables can be a country fallen under the Russian food embargo.

After that, Rosselkhoznadzor has also introduced a temporary ban on the import of Russian through the territory of Belarus plant products from Moldova.

Food embargo on EU countries, USA, Canada, Australia and Norway had introduced 7 August 2014 in response to sanctions because of the situation in Ukraine and the Crimea. Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, and Liechtenstein (1 January 2016) Ukraine – later blacklisted five more countries have been added. Initially, all types produced in the abovementioned countries of cattle meat were banned in Russia and poultry, pork, fish and crustaceans, and shellfish, dairy products, cheeses, sausages, vegetables, fruit, roots and nuts. Later, in the list of prohibited products has been amended several times. In June 2015 the validity of the Russian embargo was extended to August 2016.