The official said there was a “very high” chance that the ban would be added to the already existing food imports embargo against the EU, which Russia imposed last year in response to western economic sanctions for Moscow’s aggressive foreign policy in Ukraine.
The Rosselhoznadzor team was in the two Baltic states for routine inspections at five Latvian and four Estonian fish canneries, primarily producing sprats.
“The inspectors were rather concerned with what they saw – we cannot deem the production safety control measures, also as regards benzopyrene levels, to be effective,” he noted.
Benzopyrene, a known carcinogenic, has been a byproduct found in Latvian sprats that results from its traditional production process. In March Rosselhoznadzor inspectors found it to be present in Latvian sprats at what they consider to be dangerous levels.