Food embargo relaxation to depend on steps by Western partners - minister
MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) - The Russian Agriculture Ministry says the relaxation of Russia's food embargo depends on what steps western countries take.
A solution to the issue will depend on bilateral relations, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov told reporters.
"If our western partners lift their sanctions against Russia, then we'll have actual material to review the sanctions lists both with respect to individual countries and individual types of food," he said.
"So we're awaiting signals from countries and partners," he said.
The ban on food imports from the United States, Canada, EU, Australia and Norway was imposed on August 7 last year for a period of 12 months in response to the sanctions imposed against Russia.
The ban applies to imports from those countries of meat and meat products, fish and fish products, milk and dairy products and fruits and vegetables.
The embargo has erased 47.2% of Russia's meat imports (a total of 848,500 tonnes in annual terms), including 72.7% of pork imports (450,800 tonnes) and 64.8% of the poultry meat imports (338,700 tonnes), according to Agriculture Ministry data. The Russian market has also lost 38.5% of its milk and dairy product imports (3.64 million tonnes), including 60% of its cheese imports (249,900 tonnes), and 25.2% of its imports of fruits and vegetables (1.6 million tonnes).
Meanwhile, Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor will begin inspections next week at meat enterprises in Greece, Hungary and Cyprus in order to speed their return to the Russian market after the embargo is lifted. When that happens, only suppliers certified by Russia's veterinary service will be able to export to Russia.