Belarus says it won’t be backdoor food conduit for partner Russia

Moscow dispatched top veterinary officials to Belarus yesterday after the neighbouring country, which has a free trade zone with Russia, said it would not become a backdoor conduit for banned Western food products.

Last week Russia banned imports of fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, scallops, milk, and dairy from the US, the EU, Australia, Canada, and Norway in retaliation for Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.

Since the ban was imposed, Russian media have been flooded with jokes that Moscow will soon see supplies of oysters and shrimps coming from landlocked Belarus, which, together with Kazakhstan, has a free trade deal with Russia as part of the customs union between the three states.