MOSCOW, March 6The Latvian government has approved a list of products prohibited for import from Russia and Belarus, according to the website of the country's Cabinet of Ministers.
«On Tuesday, March 5, the government approved a resolution prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture establishing a ban on the import of agricultural and feed products into Latvia from Russia and Belarus, as well as third countries, if the relevant products are of Russian or Belarusian origin,” the publication states.
The resolution will come into force on March 8.
At its meeting on February 22, the Latvian Parliament banned the import of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus. The ban is valid until July 1, 2025, but can be extended if necessary. It does not apply to agricultural products transiting through Latvia to other EU countries.
The list of prohibited products approved by the Latvian Ministry of Agriculture includes vegetables and root vegetables, in particular potatoes, carrots, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, beans, mushrooms, both raw and pickled and canned. In addition, the ban will affect apples, watermelons, melons, pineapples, nuts and other fruits and berries, both raw and dried.
Latvia also banned the import of Russian and Belarusian cereals: wheat, rye, corn, buckwheat, oats and barley, as well as animal feed, flour and pellets from meat and meat and fish by-products, peanut, flaxseed, rapeseed and soybean oil. At the same time, the government indicated that in 2023, 90 percent of Latvian imports from Russia were feed, cereals, legumes and rapeseed oil.
At the beginning of February, protests were held throughout Latvia by farmers who demanded a ban on the import and transit of goods from Russia and Belarus , begin grain supplies from Ukraine, restore the reduced VAT rate of five percent on Latvian fruits, berries and vegetables, and also reduce bureaucracy in the agricultural sector.
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