Updated 4:15 p.m. Moscow Time
MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russia will temporarily ban agriculture imports from Ukraine starting from Wednesday, Russian agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said Tuesday.
According to the watchdog, it is impossible to track the country of origin for certain types of cargo arriving from Ukraine into Russia, “which may be explained by the fact that these agricultural products originate from European Union and fall under Russian restrictive measures imposed as response to sanctions.”
In addition, some goods arriving to Russia from Ukraine were infested with pests.
Rosselkhoznadzor requested Ukraine to provide information before October 21 about the country's agriculture and harvest in various regions and "present other convincing guarantees that agriculture products, supplied to Russia, were produced in Ukraine". Ukraine failed to provide the information requested.
Earlier this year, Russia halted imports of Ukrainian milk and milk products, cheese, certain brands of alcohol, potatoes, soy and soy products, sunflower seeds, candy and confectionery, canned food, pork and beef.
In August, Russia implemented a one-year ban on certain food imports from the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway. The move came in response to several rounds of Western sanctions against Russia over its alleged involvement in Ukrainian crisis, a claim Moscow has repeatedly denied.
