Ukraine has banned sales of Russian chocolate on its territory, according to recent local press reports.
The Ukrainian regulatory body State Consumer Issues Inspection, or Gospotrebinspektsiya, has recently conducted an examination of different Russian foodstuffs and found irregularities in the way some products were labelled and sold, according to the Ukrainian Liga.Biznes website.
Seven Russian companies were included in the list of violators, and the list includes Russian confectionery factories Krasny Oktyabr, Babayevsky, Rot Front and Russky Shokolad, The Moscow Times reports.
The examination was initiated after Svoboda nationalist party leader Oleg Tyahnybok said that most of the Russian goods on the market of the country did not meet Ukrainian regulations. Furthermore, mass violations of consumer rights reportedly took place during their sales on the market, according to the same source, quoting Oleg Tyahnybok. Consequently, the products are being withdrawn from stores, the Ukrainian portal announced.
The move is an apparent response to the ban imposed by the Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor on confectionary products made by the Ukrainian company Roshen in July 2013. Rospotrebnadzor claimed the chocolates contained increased amount of the carcinogen benzopyrene. The products manufactured in the Russian branch of the factory were not labelled as poisonous by the Russian watchdog, according to The Moscow Times.
In 2012 Russia banned imports of various Ukrainian dairy products. Russian cheese and fish are also subject to the recent ban in Ukraine, with cheese company Laktaris Istra and fish producers Vichunay Rus and Roskon being listed.
Source: WorldBakers