Russia calls Belarus staging point for banned food imports

BYKOVO, Moscow Region, Mar 31 (PRIME) – Belarus' share in Russian food imports has grown to 15% from 1% since the prohibition of imports from the E.U. in 2014, and the country has become the top trafficking area for forbidden food, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov said on Friday.

“Belarus has made use of the Eurasian union free trade advantages and quickly became the largest trafficking area of sanctioned products to the Russian territory taking more than 15% of the Russian imports market, while in 2012, the share of these products did not exceed 1%,” Tkachyov at a meeting of the veterinary watchdog panel.

On February 3, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered to start a criminal case against head of the Russian veterinary regulator Sergei Dankvert over a prohibition of imports of beef from the Minsk Region and restricted imports from numerous plants producing other food. Lukashenko said that the restrictions were introduced because Russian food producers did not withstand competition. The regulator issued several statements later, reiterating that the prohibitions are legal and justified.

Moscow and Minsk planned to discuss the problems in March.

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