Russia ratchets up trade tensions with E.U. over produce

Russia has ratcheted up trade tensions with the European Union on fruit and vegetable imports, demanding that countries sign separate deals in addition to a wider E.U.-Russia agreement from 2008, officials said on Friday.

This week, the E.U.’s health chief warned the bloc’s farm ministers that they should guard against attempts at ‘‘fragmentation’’ across the 27 member countries, in what some diplomats referred to as familiar ‘‘divide and rule’’ tactics by Russia.

 

At least four E.U. countries have been asked by Moscow to sign bilateral arrangements with extra pesticide-related import standards that go beyond last year’s E.U.-Russia agreement.

That agreement took months to negotiate and was supposed to end a lengthy dispute over pesticide residues in E.U. plant products, especially fruits and vegetables, a highly valuable export trade.

 

Italy brought the matter to the attention of farm ministers this week and has refused to sign — as has the Netherlands, officials say. Lithuania faces pressure from Moscow to fall into line; Latvia is thought to have signed a bilateral deal already.

 

Revenue from fruit and vegetable products accounts for the much of the value of E.U. farm exports to Russia, at around €1.6 billion, or $2.1 billion, a year.

 

Apart from Russia threatening to suspend plant-based imports if a country does not sign, E.U. exporters also run the risk of being removed from a list of approved operators, officials say.

The commission, which administers food safety policy on behalf of E.U. countries and also negotiates such agreements with non-E.U. importer countries, insists that the 2008 memorandum of understanding already properly governs plant exports to Russia.

 

Russia’s animal and plant health watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, disagrees, saying the memorandum was only a framework agreement so separate arrangements are needed with E.U. suppliers.