"Unfriendly" Food Imported from Kazakhstan Concerns Rosselkhoznadzor

Fruits originating from a country “unfriendly” to the Russian Federation have been a cause for concern, Orda.kz reports.

Rosselkhoznadzor and Kazakhstan's State Agro-Industrial Complex Inspection Committee discussed importing products from Kazakhstan to Russia via video link. The discussion covered which sanctions on imports the Russian Federation has imposed. 

The Russian service has expressed concern about the detection of cases of import of sanctioned products originating from "unfriendly" countries into Russia via Kazakhstan. The deliveries are being carried out in violation of the ban on import of agricultural products, raw materials and food products originating from "unfriendly" countries, which has been in effect since 2014, Rosselkhoznadzor's statement said.

The list of sanctioned products includes pears from Poland, pistachios from the United States, and almonds from the United States, which were originally intended for transit.

The sanctioned products made there way to Russia accompanied by Kazakh phytosanitary certificates, which incorrectly indicated the origin of the products, the Russian agency clarified.

The Russian authorities claim this could have happened because Kazakhstan lacks information systems that would allow tracking the movement of agricultural products within the country.

To shield itself from the import of Polish pears, the Russian side has requested that Kazakhstan provide detailed information on where these fruits are sold in the Republic. Notably, this requirement did not extend to American pistachios and almonds.

Original Author: Igor Ulitin