MOSCOW, November 29. /TASS/. Extending Moscow's food embargo to include New Zealand will be unnoticeable, because Russia hardly imports anything from there anyway, the press service of the Russian agricultural watchdog told TASS.
"Expanding the food embargo to include New Zealand will not affect Russia's import of agricultural products," the press service said.
Earlier on Friday, the Russian government extended the food embargo for countries that imposed sanctions against Russia until the end of 2026. It also added New Zealand to the list. The products prohibited for import, as earlier, include meat, sausages, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits, dairy and other products.
As the watchdog reported, the extent of New Zealand's exports to Russia amounted to 14 tons of dry milk and 553 tons of fish and seafood since the beginning of 2024.
"No other goods subject to control were received this year, including vegetables and fruits," the watchdog noted. The regulator added that up to the end of August 2023, 4,700 tons of apples were supplied as well.
On food embargo
On August 6, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ‘On application of certain special economic measures to ensure the security of the Russian Federation." The next day, the Russian government imposed a ban on the import of a number of meat and dairy products, fish, vegetables, fruits, etc. from the United States, the European Union, Norway, Australia, and Canada.
In 2015, the government added Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Ukraine to the list of countries subject to the import ban on agricultural products, raw materials, and food to Russia. Later on, the embargo was extended several times, and the list of sanctioned goods was updated.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a document in October 2023 extending the embargo until December 31, 2024. At that time, whey, which is used to produce dry infant milk mix, as well as to conduct industrial testing and adjust equipment for the production of these products in Russia, was excluded from the list of products prohibited for import.
As the head of state admitted, the introduction of a food embargo in 2014 was a difficult and risky step, but the fears were not justified, domestic food turned out to be better, and the agricultural sector is growing.