Russian Federation tightens control of Turkish food imports after downing of warplane

The Russian government authorised the federal agricultural supervision agency, Rosselkhoznadzor, to strengthen control over agricultural products and food imports from Turkey and organise additional checks at borders and production plants in Turkey.

On Wednesday, lawmakers from the Kremlin-friendly A Just Russia party introduced a bill calling for a maximum punishment of five years in jail for those who deny that the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turkey in 1915 was a genocide. “But due to increased danger and various extremist developments, naturally, additional checks are being made”, said the spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the plane was shot down by a rocket “air-to-air” type from the Turkish F-16s over the Syrian territory and fell in Syria four kilometers from the border. But officials have said Moscow will react to the incident, and that relations will suffer. “I’m forced to say that there have been about 40 cases since the start of 2015 where traces of prohibited and harmful substances have been found in Turkish animal products”, Tkachev said.

Reports said that 15 percent of Turkish imports “do not meet Russian requirements”.

The statement said that the ministry has recently been receiving complaints from consumers and industry associations concerning the safety of food and agricultural products imported from Turkey.

Ties between Russia and Turkey are under scrutiny after Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday (Nov 24).

Russia is expected to announce a restriction on imports from Turkey on Thursday in response to the downing of a Russian warplane, according to a report.