MOSCOW– Russia’s Rosselkhoznadzor agriculture watchdog said on May 12 it plans to completely ban fruit and vegetable imports from Turkey next week.
“We are considering restrictions on the remaining fruit and vegetables products which have not yet been banned,” Interfax news agency quoted Yulia Shvabauskene, deputy head of the agricultural body, as saying.
The Russian government has started to impose a raft of economic and trade sanctions against Turkey after the jet crisis erupted in November 2015. The ban applies to a range of Turkish products, including fruits and vegetables — such as tomatoes, cucumbers and apples — poultry products and salt, according to the list published on the Russian government’s website in December 2015.
The ban went into effect on January 1.
Turkish fruit, vegetables face total ban in Russia
Russia’s agriculture watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has announced plans to halt the remaining imports of fruit and vegetables from Turkey next week. “We are considering restrictions on the remaining fruit and vegetable products which have not yet been banned,” said the agency’s deputy head, Yulia Shvabauskene, as quoted by Interfax.
Rosselkhoznadzor is going to impose a ban on imports of products still allowed in the Russian market, including marrows, lemons and grapefruit due to the systematic violations of sanitary requirements.
Restrictions on the supplies of vegetables, fruits and other goods from Turkey to Russia have been in place since the beginning of the year. Relations between the countries have significantly deteriorated since November 24 last year, when a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian warplane in Syria.
Russia’s economic sanctions against Turkey also included a ban on the hiring of Turkish citizens. The embargo could cost the Turkish economy $3.1 billion this year, according to Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek.
Moscow does not see any political context in the step. “Rosselkhoznadzor is not engaged in politics, it is engaged in its specific issues,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik news agency.
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