MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, the agricultural watchdog said the first shipment of banned food believed to be of the EU origin would be destroyed in the southern Russian city of Samara under Russian President Vladimir Putin's decree on the destruction of banned food imports, which will come into force on August 6.
"There are large shipments [of goods], they are seized, and Rosselkhoznadzor is ready to begin the destruction at some checkpoints tomorrow, but there is a lack of coordination with the customs authorities," Yulia Melano told the Rossiya 24 TV channel, adding that it was still questionable whether the start of destruction would be possible on August 6.
Melano said some customs bodies, including St. Petersburg Customs and the Orenburg Region Customs, were not prepared for cooperation with the agricultural watchdog.
According to the rules of the destruction, the products imported into the Russian Federation with the violation of embargo are allowed to be destroyed in any manner approved by law and in compliance with the environmental regulations. The seized products are to be eliminated even if there is no information regarding their owner and transporter.
In June, Russia extended for a year a ban on importing meat, fish, dairy products, vegetables and some other product categories from countries that imposed sanctions against Moscow.
The West introduced economic restrictions over Russia's alleged role in escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in 2014.
