You're reading: EU will have to analyze Russia’s food import restrictions before taking action

Brussels - Before making conclusions from Russia's declared intention to restrict imports of various food products from the countries that earlier joined Western sanctions because of Moscow's role in the Ukraine crisis, the EU will have to analyze a particular list of such products, which will take some time, a source from EU institutions told Interfax on condition of anonymity.

It is too early to say what the EU’s reaction will be, but what is
beyond doubt is that Russia’s actions will have to be considered
primarily in terms of their compliance with the WTO regulations, he
said.

There is too little information at the time for any practical
conclusions, but it is easy to see already now that such a sweeping ban
on food imports would not only cause damage to EU producers but would
also be detrimental to Russian consumers, the source said.

As to measures that Russia said it would take to control growth in
food prices, the EU source suggested that such measures could only be
artificial and non-market based and would definitely complicate the
economic situation in Russia even more.

The EU’s restrictive measures differ from the expected Russian ones
in that they are motivated more solidly and are better elaborated in
legal terms, the source said, adding that experts worked on each of
these measures for months before imposing them.

The source refrained from predicting at what level and in what format
the EU could respond to Russia’s food import ban, saying only that this
would be clear soon enough.