Russia was an important buyer of Dutch and Belgian pears, and this buyer was lost due to the boycott. Exporting European fruit and veg directly to Russia has become completely impossible. On the other hand, rumours have been heard for months that pears or other fruit and vegetables do eventually end up on Russian shelves. Exporters observe an increased demand in many of the countries neighbouring Russia, but there are no checks on where it's eventually going, although they do not rule out the possibility that part of the fruit is actually ending up in Russia, HBVL reports in an article. Several other Belgian media have also reported on this.
No export to Russia
When asked, an exporter confirms they aren't exporting directly to Russia any more. "Even if you'd want to ship European produce to Russia, you won't even be able to get your documents in order, because the food safety service wouldn't accept it. For non-EU produce, it is possible to do that. I know many Belgian exporters. One is willing to take more risks than the other. Still, I know with 100% certainty that there isn't a single Belgian exporter or auction that even dares to try it." He adds to that: "Suppose it would happen, then we wouldn't even be violating the law in Europe, because the sanctions were imposed by Russia, and not from within the EU. Have the Belgian media suddenly become inspectors for Russia?"
"It's possible that Belgian pears eventually do end up in Russia, but we are not responsible for that. We are doing nothing wrong, because we're not exporting to Russia, but to other countries like Belarus, Poland, Turkey, Lithuania or Ukraine. It's possible that these countries do ship the products along to Russia, but we've got nothing to do with that. No exporter has full control over where his products eventually end up. I also don't think it's our task to check up on this." He expects Russia to do this. "Reports are being written up on it, and the Russian government is also reading that. We'll just have to wait and see how they react."