Russia imposes an import ban on goods from the United States of America

Context

Related context is contained in FOOD (AUSTRALIA – RUSSIA).

There have been multiple instances of Russia imposing restrictions and bans on US food products over time, including in 2014, which was reported by the US Foreign Agricultural Service as covering ” beef, pork, poultry, fish and seafood products, fruits and nuts, vegetables, and some sausages and most prepared food” and was initiated pursuant to Presidential decree of the Russian Federation of August 6, 2014 No. 560

Further rolling annual bans took place, including in 2020 when Russian President Putin enacted Decree 730 (dated 21 November 2020). This Decree extended the duration of the ban and applied to agricultural products from all countries that have maintained sanctions against Russia, with the stated purpose of “protect[ing] the national security of the Russian Federation.” Some exceptions were decreed, including in 2016 for baby food, and general exceptions for seeds, ingredients for infant formula, and ingredients for pharmaceuticals.

There is a comparable ban in place in the US on Russian products, with Executive Order 14068 “prohibit[ing] the importation into the United States of fish, seafood, … alcoholic beverages; and non-industrial diamonds of Russian Federation origin.”

Impact

Prior to the 2014 ban, imports into Russia of food from the United States constituted about 4% of Russia’s total food imports, and the market was calculated by the US Food and Agricultural Service to be declining by about 20% per year, as per the table below.

Source: https://fas.usda.gov/data/russia-bans-key-us-agricultural-exports

Impact & Responses

Russian commentators, looking at food insecurity in Russia around 2020, have pointed to the pandemic as being an important factor, with no mention of the ban. For example, the Head of the Centre for Agro-Food Policy wrote “The Ministry of Agriculture underlines that Russia’s need for food imports is insignificant: these are mainly products not produced in the country due to its climatic condi-tions, and importers work with a wide range of countries-suppliers.”

It has also been reported that the restrictions have helped Russia transition to becoming a net exporter of food as of 2020.

References

Shagaida, Natalya & Trotsuk, Irina. (2022). “Russia’s Food Security under the Crisis of 2020-2021: Objective and Subjective Dimensions.” 7 Russian Peasant Studies pp. 93-121. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/363761794_RUSSIA’S_FOOD_SECURITY_UNDER_THE_CRISIS_OF_2020-_2021_OBJECTIVE_AND_SUBJECTIVE_DIMENSIONS