Russian authorities have proclaimed a temporary boycott of cherries from Afghanistan and nectarines from Somalia. The Russians suspect that European products are being smuggled into the country hidden among these products. The import ban also applies to re-export from other countries. The Russian phytosanitary service wants to prevent smuggling with this measure. Some African countries are also boycotted because of alleged smuggling. According to Russian authorities countries are exporting products they did not export previously, and that is suspicious. Russia says it has already discovered 600 cases of falsified certificates accompanying African products.
An example Russian authorities like to use: 8,733 tonnes of fresh produce was imported from Benin this year, including 1,400 tonnes of peaches, 899 tonnes of nectarines and 310 tonnes of kiwi fruits. These products were imported via the EU. Upon inquiry from the Benin ambassador in Moscow, the country proved not to cultivate stone fruit and kiwi fruit all.
In recent weeks several batches were destroyed, including: 4.5 tonnes of Czech peaches, 1.2 tonnes of Turkish cherries, 2 tonnes of Polish apples, 1.6 tonnes of Czech nectarines, 7.7 tonnes of Ukrainian cherries, 19 tonnes of Polish cherries and 19.5 tonnes of Polish apples. Furthermore, a series of anonymous products were destroyed, including 1.5 tonnes of cherries, 1.1 tonnes of grapes and 1.8 tonnes of nectarines.
Sanctions particularly damaging to EU
In a recently published study on the effects of the economic war between the West and Russia, some striking conclusions are drawn. For example, the boycott is particularly damaging to the EU, 76.7 per cent of total impact is at the expense of European private companies. Interestingly enough, it is not the sectors boycotted by Russia bearing the larger part of costs. Of the trade lost, 83.1 per cent is at the expense of non-boycotted sectors. This posits that the European sanctions take a heavy toll on European sectors. For example, sanctions on the financial sector make trading more difficult, causing exporters to withdraw.