Russian consumer rights watchdog bans imports of canned vegetables, fish from Ukraine
Russian authorities’ also ban on the imports of all dairy products and milk from Ukraine
MOSCOW, July 28./ITAR-TASS/. Russian Rospotrebnadzor consumer rights watchdog has banned imports of canned vegetables, fruit and fish from Ukraine.
The watchdog has revealed repeated violations of Russian legislation on protection of consumer rights by several Ukrainian companies producing canned food.
Products were incorrectly labelled while the weight fraction, as well as the share of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamin C, microelements and salt did not correspond to those written on the label.
Russian authorities’ also ban on the imports of all dairy products and milk from Ukraine comes into force on Monday, July 28, the federal agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor.
Rosselkhoznadzor officials believe the ban will not entail any consequences for Russia in the format of the World Trade Organization.
Alexei Alexeyenko, Rosselkhoznadzor’s deputy director, said last Friday that “the ban concerns, first and foremost, the imports of cheeses that might be hazardous since their production process includes palm oil of unknown quality and origin.”
The watchdog warned on July 23 that it would have to restrict the imports of all the foodstuffs from Ukraine if the government in Kiev failed to adopt the requirements of the Eurasian Customs Union (Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia) to the quality of imported European products before the signing of an agreement on Ukraine’s association with the EU.
Also in effect at the moment in Russia are restrictions on the supplies of confectioneries from the Ukrainian factories owned by President Petro Poroshenko, as the Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection voiced concerns over their quality and consumer safety.
According to the Federal Customs Service, Russia’s food imports (except for drinks) from Ukraine reached a total of 229,600 tons worth $495 million since the start of 2014. The bulk of Russia’s imports from Ukraine consists of dairy products ($106.3 million); chocolate and other cocoa-containing products ($63 million); fruit juices ($21.1 million) and canned vegetables ($20.5 million).