Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture is currently working on a draft proposal to extend the present food import embargos until the end of next year, according to Russian news agency, TASS.
“The Russian Agriculture Ministry has already started to prepare the draft decree providing extension of the response measures until the end of 2017,” Agriculture Minister, Alexander Tkachev told a press conference late last week. “The list of agricultural products is not planned for expansion, we are talking only about extending the duration.”
He added that the food embargo is “good news for domestic agricultural producers.”
Prime Minister, Arkady Dvorkovich, has confirmed that the list of products and countries affected by the embargo will remain unchanged.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had previously directed the proposed extension to the ban at the request of Russian agri-food companies in order to allow them to fulfil long-term investment plans.
When complete, the proposal will go to President Vladimir Putin, who is expected to approve it.
In June of 2015, President Putin signed a decree that extended Russian sanctions against EU countries, the U.S., Canada, Australia and Norway through August 5, 2016. Foods covered by the ban include beef, chicken, pork, dairy products, live, chilled and frozen fish and shellfish, nuts, fruits and vegetables.
