Russia extends again the ban on western food import

According to a new decree signed recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin has yet again extended the ban on food imports from European countries as well as the US, Canada, Australia. The origin of the food import ban is meant to lessen Russia`s reliance on foreign food imports while it also remains a retaliation after the EU, US, and Canada imposed trade sanctions on the country for its involvement in the military conflict, in the Crimean peninsula of Ukraine in 2014. Both parties have since repeatedly extended their sanctions. At the moment, Russia`s food import ban will remain active until 31 December 2022.

Post-Brexit food imports border check delayed again

As a result of new, heavy trade regulations brought by the Brexit and after listening to its citizens’ concerns, the UK government has pushed back border checks on food imported from the European Union to April 2021, then 1 January 2022 and now to July 2022. The 6 months new delay is the result of the disrupted food supply chain and workforce shortage in the country caused by the Covid pandemic as well as Brexit regulations regarding immigration.

US lifts food import ban on Japan

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced the termination of an import alert on 100 food products from Japan, originally banned following the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima in 2011. After a decade of intensive sampling, reviewing and monitoring its food products, Japan is now on the way to plan further successful trade efforts with the US, especially since the US is the third-largest importer of food products from Japan. This decision affects other 13 prefectures, including Iwate, Yamagata, or Saitama and represents a moment of joy for residents in the affected areas.