Russia bans import of fish, seafood from 'unfriendly nations'

Russia will no longer import goods like processed fish and seafood from “unfriendly nations” that include European Union countries, Norway and the US.

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development on Tuesday announced an embargo on imports of food products from these nations saying that the restrictions will “free up certain market niches for domestic producers whose capacity allows them to fully meet the needs of the domestic market.”

The ban on imports is in part a retaliation against Western sanctions imposed on Russia for carrying out strikes in Ukraine. Deliveries from countries like China, however, will continue as usual.

Custom duties on wine raised

Apart from this, imported wine from the “unfriendly countries” will face a hike in customs duties, jumping from 12.5 per cent to 20 per cent.

The measures were outlined by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

The government said that as Russian producers increase their output, consumers are increasingly choosing home-grown wine instead of imported ones.

“Domestic production and imports from friendly countries will fully meet domestic demand.”

Wine imports from Chile increased 9 per cent in value terms last year, while from Armenia they shot up 161 per cent, the government said, while there were prospects of a significant increase in imports of South African wine.

The report by the government also said that import duty on products like purified glycerine will be hiked to a whopping 35 per cent from 5 per cent to increase domestic firms’ competitiveness. A 50 per cent import duty would be imposed on plywood.

New year, new import bans

Russia has, since 2014, banned international products in the country on an on-again, off-again basis.

In 2014, the Russian president signed a decree prohibiting the import of certain agricultural products raw materials and foodstuffs originating from certain countries for one year.

The same embargo was extended in 2016 and the list of products banned was also modified.

This was yet again prolonged till 2018 by a presidential decree.

In 2017, the validity of the embargo was extended to live pigs.