Russian may impose reciprocal food import restrictions on Belarus
MOSCOW. Feb 2 (Interfax) - Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor may ask the government to impose restrictions on food imports from Belarus equivalent to those that Minsk has imposed on Moscow.
"On Tuesday, at the initiative of the Eurasian Economic Commission, we have scheduled talks with the Belarusian colleagues at which we plan to discuss the problems that have emerged in recent times. It cannot be rule out that we will ask the Russian government to enact measures toward Belarusian products equivalent to those the Belarus has enacted toward products from Russia," Rosselkhoznadzor chief Sergei Dankvert told Interfax.
The Belarusian delegation to the talks will be led by Agriculture and Food Minister Leonid Zayats.
Rosselkhoznadzor has sufficient authority to impose the restrictions on its own, Dankvert said. "But since they have submitted a document to the Council of Ministers, we must make a government instruction," he said.
On January 27, in a move that was mainly a response to the threat from African swine fever (ASF), Belarus strengthened veterinary controls on food imports, including those from Russia, that replaces Customs Union veterinary certificates with those issued by Belarus and requires receipt of a permit from the Agriculture and Food Ministry.
Dankvert said the new measures amount to unilateral enactment of administrative measures blocking imports from all Russian regions, even those where no ASF has been registered. "When we impose restrictions, it is based on the results of product monitoring, laboratory research, specific observations. Belarus has made an excessively administrative decision," Dankvert said. "There is the practice of regionalizing a country for a disease. Our Belarusian colleagues asked us to do that for Belarus," he said.
Rosselkhoznadzor has not received any additional list of products subject to strengthened monitoring nor information on the criteria used in deciding if a shipment will be allowed. "If permission is given, then on what basis is that decision made. What region can export product and which can't?" he said. "These questions have not been formalized by the veterinary services, which creates far from minor difficulties in mutual trade," he said.
Customs Union rules do not provide for reissuance of veterinary certificates. "Belarusian products arrive under Belarusian certificates and enter trade with them," he said.
At the meeting on Tuesday, the results of inspections conducted by Russian specialists in Belarus will also be discussed, Dankvert said.
