The import ban applies to root vegetables, regular vegetables, legumes, nuts, fruits, grains, flour, cakes and pellets for animal feed, grape residues, plant materials and vegetable waste, residues, by-products, and articles for use in animal feed.
The annotation of the regulations states that Latvia, as a Russian border state, is trying to achieve the earliest possible severance of economic ties with the aggressor state, and Latvia's initiative to ban imports of agricultural and feed products from Russia and Belarus, as well as from other third countries, if the products in question are Russian or Belarusian, is an additional element of the common European Union sanctions policy.
"So far, choice and ethical behavior have been left to businesses, but about national security aspects, behavior based on moral considerations must be determined at the national level. Farmers have publicly expressed their displeasure with the continuation of Latvia's relationship with the aggressor state and its desire to end any relationship with it, including the use of its products in human and animal consumption,” the regulations note reads.
The provisions on prohibited products will enter into force on March 8 2024.
According to the Food and Veterinary Service, a total of 16 companies imported feed products, including cereals, and feed materials into Latvia. Of these, nine are companies whose activities are related to logistics provision, and the activities of seven are related to wholesale and production of certain products - agricultural production, animal feed production.
