Russia has banned the import of fruit from 31 Belarusian enterprises. The restrictions are valid from February 14.
On February 24, the agency published an explanation of restrictive measures against Belarusian producers.
Belarusian enterprises are subject to restrictions in Russia due to “poor quality, dangerous or illegally imported products,” Rosselkhoznadzor notes. This, in turn, “raises certain doubts about the effectiveness of the functioning of the system of state veterinary and phytosanitary supervision” of the Belarusian-Russian “Union State”.
Rosselkhoznadzor has claims to Belarus over the following:
- import of Belarusian “cheese-like products”, which “are not subject to legal definition, but are certified in an unknown way”;
- supplies by Belarusian companies of “sanctioned” products from Ukraine and Europe with false documents under the guise of products from Iran, Macedonia, San Marino and China, which also “reduce the import volumes of dairy products of conscientious Belarusian producers”;
- the previous information about the possibility of importing “sanctioned products” from the EU under the guise of the products of 33 countries via Belarus — now only those countries are allowed direct import, but not through Belarus;
- import of significant volumes (17 parties of more than 25 tons in total) of various products imported into Russia without veterinary and accompanying documents supposedly for personal purposes, but in fact for sale on the Russian market;
- “obvious doubts” of the strict control of the Belarusian side over the products supplied to Russia, and the possibility of participating in “illegal schemes” of the Belarusian veterinary service.
The embargo on the Belarusian milk in Russia began operating on February 26. Rosselkhoznadzor prohibits the importation into Russia of all dairy products from Belarus. Restrictions apply to regular milk and cream, and their dry analogs, as well as whey.
According to economist Leanid Zaika, the milk conflict between Russia and Belarus is not a war, but a result of competition on the Russian market. And Belarusians are losing this competition, too, because of the quality of the products.
