Prime Minister Evika Siliņa (New Unity) said after the coalition cooperation meeting that it is planned to see the relevant Cabinet of Ministers regulations in the government as early as Tuesday, March 5. Siliņa added that the good news is that Poland and Lithuania could possibly look in the direction of similar decisions.
Regulations developed by the Ministry regarding agricultural and fodder products prohibited for importation into Latvia provide that the prohibition could also apply to potatoes, tomatoes, various types of onions, garlic, cabbage plants, lettuce, carrots, turnips and stalks, beetroot, oat roots, celeriac, radishes and similar root vegetables, cucumbers and cornichons, leguminous vegetables, and other fresh vegetables.
Nor could nuts, bananas, dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, citrus fruits, melons, pears, quinces, apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, and blueberries come from Russia and Belarus be imported into Latvia. Frozen, preserved and dried nut and fruit products would also be covered by the ban.
It is planned that wheat and mixtures of wheat and rye, rye, barley, oats, maize, rice, grain sorghum, and buckwheat will not be imported into Latvia from Russia and Belarus.
The ban will also apply to flour and pellets from meat or meat offal, fish or crustaceans, molluscs or other aquatic invertebrates, bran, starch residues and similar residues, cane cake and other sugar-producing waste, shards or fibers, oilcakes from soybeans, peanut oils, cotton seeds, linseed, rapeseed, coconut or palm nuts.
Grape residues, plant materials and vegetable waste, residues, by-products and articles to be used in animal feed could also not be imported into Latvia from Russia and Belarus.
Compared to the initial list of products subject to the import ban, which was published in the ZM Law Portal last week, the section that was intended to prevent the importation into Latvia of oilseeds and fruits, as well as plants for industrial purposes, straw, and fodder, originating in Russia and Belarus has been removed from it.
For example, it was initially intended to prevent imports into Latvia of plants or parts of plants originating in Russia and Belarus, which are mainly used in perfumery, pharmacy or for the preparation of insecticides and fungicides and similar purposes, locust bean, seaweed and other algae, sugar beet and sugar cane, fruit stones and kernels.
