MOSCOW: Russian consumer protection watchdog has banned import of Poland’s cheese products. Rospotrebnadzor, expert from watchdog,said in a online statement that a variety of processed cheese made by Poland’s Ostrowia producers failed to meet Russia’s “technical regulations.”
Russia banned an array of food imports from the West including many varieties of cheese, such as Italian Parmesan in response to sanctions against Moscow for its policy on Ukraine. But processed cheese was exempt from Moscow’s sanctions, Ekho Moskvy.
Prices on many banned foods saw high inflation following the ban, with cheese prices rising eight percent from December of last year, state statistics service Rosstat, said.
The ban on Polish cheese went into effect. Rospotrebnadzor said its statement.
The release of the statement also coincided with the end of Russia’s Orthodox holiday known as “Cheese Week” or, more popularly, as Maslenitsa — a succession of feasts that traditionally feature pancakes and dairy products and precedes the start of Lent fasting.
Poland has been one of Europe’s strongest critics of Russian policies in Ukraine. Among the produce to have been banned by Moscow over the Ukraine crisis are Polish apples, which previously made up 40 percent of all apples consumed in Russia.
