Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan agree prevention of banned food supplies to Russia

Photo: KAZINFORMRussian Federal Customs Service (FCS) has agreed with Belarus and Kazakhstan to prevent banned import from Europe to Russia in compliance with measures adopted in response to the Western sanctions, the service's chief Andrei Belyaninov said on Monday.

The customs service had necessary technical opportunities, he said meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, ITAR-TASS reports.

"We are now implementing the 2014 plan. Neither export nor import cause any concerns, though it requires great efforts," the official said.

On August 7, Russia announced the total ban on food supplies from the EU, Australia, Canada, Norway and the US in response to the sanctions the West had imposed due over the developments in Ukraine. According to ITAR-TASS calculations based on the FCS 2013 data, these amount to $9.1 billion annually. The ban will first hit the EU that used to supply $6.5 billion worth of sanctioned food to the Russian market.

Source: Kazinform