Tuesday marks the fifth anniversary of the Russian import ban on certain Western products in response to Ukraine-related sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th August, 2019) Tuesday marks the fifth anniversary of the Russian import ban on certain Western products in response to Ukraine-related sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States.Relations between Russia and the West got complicated in 2014 due to the situation in Ukraine. At the end of July 2014, the European Union and the United States went from targeted sanctions against individuals and companies to measures against entire sectors of the Russian economy.
In response, Russia imposed a food embargo on countries that adopted sanctions against Moscow over Crimea's reunification with Russia and alleged interference in the conflict in Ukraine.
On August 6, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree "on imposing certain special economic measures to ensure the security of the Russian Federation," which entered into force the next day. The Russian government approved a list of agricultural products, raw materials, and food, banned for imports from the United States, EU member-states, Canada, Australia and Norway.
The corresponding list included beef, pork, fowl, cheese and dairy products, fruits, nuts, and other products. Subsequently, goods that for one reason or another were difficult to supply for Russia were excluded from the list: seeds, juvenile salmon, dietary supplements, lactose-free milk, dairy products, and others. In May 2016, Russia allowed to import food and vegetables intended for the production of baby food.
The country announced a ban on salt imports in November 2016.
Initially, high-quality products imported from countries that fell under Russian counter-sanctions were returned to their owners. Potentially harmful and dangerous agricultural products had to be destroyed. However, according to expert estimates, the extent of smuggling after all the political decisions exceeded all permissible limits.
On July 29, 2015, the Russian president signed a decree on the disposal of embargoed products. The decree entered into force on August 6, 2015. The procedure for the disposal was approved by a government decree on July 31.
On August 13, 2015, Russia added Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Ukraine to the list of countries under the food import embargo. The ban on the import of Ukrainian products was to come into force only if the country's Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the European Union entered into force. After Ukraine joined the EU and US anti-Russian sanctions, countermeasures were introduced against it. On December 21, 2015, the Russian government issued a decree on the introduction of a food embargo against Ukraine starting from January 1, 2016.
As Western sanctions continued, Russia also extended its retaliatory measures. In June 2019, special economic measures were extended until December 31, 2020.
According to expert estimates, the first wave of the embargo was the largest one: volumes of imports to Russia fell by about $9.1 billion (according to the 2013 data). The expansion of the embargo in 2015 reached another $241 million (according to the data for 2014).
According to the 2017 European Parliament's report, the Russian embargo in 2014 compared to 2013 affected European goods in the amount of about $7.3 billion, representing 47 percent of all EU agricultural and food exports to Russia.
In June 2019, Putin said that, according to expert data, as a result of all these restrictions, Russia lost about $50 billion since 2014, the European Union lost $240 billion, followed by Japan with $27 billion of losses and the United States with $17 billion.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights Idriss Jazairy noted in March 2019 that the European Union's losses from the food embargo enforced by Moscow's were greater than Russia's losses from EU sanctions.
The introduction of the food embargo, together with the ruble devaluation, has led to a change in the Russian market situation: a part of foreign brands, as well as a part of Russian companies that were engaged in the supply of imported products to Russian markets, left the market or reduced their share. This led to an increase in market shares of existing large companies, the emergence of new small domestic producers, as well as an increase in the share of own trademark brands in retail chains.
Russian importers shifted to cooperation with manufacturers in the CIS countries, Latin America, Asia, and Africa very quickly.
Thanks to already established contacts with the competent authorities of many countries that did not support Western sanctions, it was possible to stabilize the situation on the domestic food market and to balance trade flows. The state launched a large-scale campaign to support the agricultural industry: the agrarians were given soft loans, the size of grants for farmers was increased and land legislation was adjusted.
As a result, Russian producers managed to significantly expand their share in the markets of fruits, vegetables, cheese, dairy and meat products. According to the United Kingdom's Financial Times, in 2013, prior to Western sanctions and the reciprocal trade embargo, Russia imported 35 percent of food, and, in 2018, this volume did not exceed 20 percent. Russia's introduction of the food embargo contributed to the development of export-oriented agriculture in the country and an increase in the supply of agricultural products abroad.
At the end of 2018, agricultural products and food for almost $26 billion were delivered abroad.
Russia became the world's leading wheat exporter. In 2018, the grain harvest amounted to more than 113 million tons, and, at the end of the year, 54.8 million tons of grain were delivered to foreign markets.
In addition, Russia is one of the leaders among fish and sunflower oil exporters, and it has completely replaced imported pork and chicken with domestic products.
At the same time, according to Russian food watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, products prohibited for import continue to flow into Russia mainly through Belarus and from Kazakhstan. According to the watchdog, as of April 1, 2019, some 27,902 tons of products (26,746 tons of vegetable products and 1,156 of animal products) prohibited for import were detained in the country.
