Russia suspended all dairy imports from Lithuania on Monday with complaints of quality violations, ratcheting up tensions in trade relationships between the two countries.
Chief sanitary inspector Gennady Onishchenko said that coliform bacteria, traces of phthalate plasticizers, and heightened levels of yeast and mold were found in certain products. He also said that there were widespread discrepancies between product content and labeling, Interfax reported.
Despite Onishchenko saying that Russia’s Federal Consumer Protection Service had voiced their concerns over an extended period, the general director of one of Lithuania’s largest dairy producers said that his company wasn’t warned about the impending ban and, therefore, had no opportunity to improve matters, RIA Novosti reported.
«For us it will be a major blow as 35 percent of our exports go to the Russian market. … I feel that we are the victims of an ill-conceived policy from those people who should protect our interests, but aren’t doing so,» said Alexander Smagin, general director of Peino Zvaigzdes, which sells products in Russia under the brand Svalia.
Russian customs officials began scaling up inspections of delivery trucks from Lithuania in September, sometimes holding shipments for up to 20 days in what Lithuania sees as an attempt from Russia to discourage them from developing ties with the European Union, Reuters reported.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said that his country could «theoretically» block Russia’s road and rail access to the Russian exclave Kaliningrad if the trade impediments continue.
Source: The Moscow Times