Russia Bans Latvian Canned Fish Imports
Russia has banned all canned fish imports from two major Latvian plants after high content of benzopyrene was found in the goods. Latvian producers say this move is pure protectionism and fear that all fish products from the Baltic country will be banned.
Russia’s Agriculture Supervision Service has posted a press release on its web-site, saying that imports of canned fish produced at two Latvian plants, Gamma-A and Brivais Vilnis, is banned starting from October 20. The reason for the ban is a high concentration of benzopyrene in the products. This substance gets into fish while it is being smoked. Large amounts of benzopyrene pose health hazards.
Latvian producers believe that the measure is aimed to push Baltic products out from the Russian market. In fact, Russian companies have built four new sprat-producing plants in the neighboring Kaliningrad Region over the last two years. A major importer told Kommersant that the ban was introduced to clear the field from competing producers. Latvian experts note that the health hazard of benzopyrene has been grossly exaggerated. One needs to eat at least 3 kg of sprats a day to damage one’s health, they say.
The Russian agricultural watchdog has launched test after Latvian authorities themselves withdrew canned fish from stores in Kaliningrad over sanitary reasons in early September.
The volume of the Russian canned fish market is 900,000 metric tons annually. Imports account for as much as 300,000 tons. 62 percent of the supplies come from Baltic states. Baltic producers now fear that the ban will be extended to other plants as well and insist that Russia may use the fish embargo as an effective tool of influence.
Svetlana Mentyukova, Vitaly Shelemba, Riga
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 21, 2006
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