On June 29, 2016 the President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed Decree No. 305 that extended the food embargo against specifically listed types of Western – origin food products until December 31, 2017. The 1-year ban on the importation of certain agricultural and food products originating in the countries that have sanctioned Russia was first introduced in the summer of 2014. In June of 2015 the embargo was extended to be effective until August 5, 2016.
To reiterate, the Russian embargo initially covered specifically listed types of food products originating from the EU, US, Canada, Australia and Norway. Later the ban was extended to Albania, Montenegro, Iceland and Liechtenstein, which joined the anti-Russian sanctions. At the end of 2015 Russia added Ukraine into the list of the embargoed jurisdictions. The types of products subject to the embargo include beef, pork, poultry, fish, milk, fruits, vegetables and some other product categories.
At the same time, in May 2016 the Government of Russia lifted the embargo on the importation of poultry, beef and frozen and dried vegetables explicitly intended for the production of baby foods.
The new Presidential Decree provides that the Russian Government may offer proposals to change the ban’s terms when necessary.
