You're reading: Russia may limit agricultural imports from Ukraine after singing of EU agreement

Russia may limit deliveries of agricultural products from Ukraine after its Association Agreement comes into effect, such a possibility is not being ruled out, Alexei Alexeyenko, the official representative of Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian agriculture watchdog, said

“As soon as Ukraine opens its borders to duty-free deliveries of
European foodstuffs, we will be forced to limit the deliveries from its
territory, in order to prevent the uncontrolled movement of products
from the EU and its re-export,” Alexeyenko told Interfax.

“This is possible, but we are trying to avoid this,” he said.

However, Rosselkhoznadzor is already encountering instances of
re-exports, when under the guise of Ukrainian meat, products from
Brazilian enterprises attempt to enter Russia, which is forbidden. “In
the case of [Ukraine’s] association with the EU, such risks will grow
many times over,” he said.

To discuss the situation, Rosselkhoznadzor is sending the latest
appeal to its Ukrainian counterpart about holding talks in order to
remove all contentious issues and agree on measures to ensure the safety
of deliveries. This is necessary because the legislation and
requirements for regulated products are different in Russia and in the
EU.

“If our Ukrainian colleagues do not come to the talks, we are left
with one option – to make the decision unilaterally. In this case, a
halt in the trade of agricultural products is possible until the
improvement of this issue,” he said, adding that “politics,
unfortunately, changed the format of our relations.”