MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Since October 9, approximately 600 tons of illegal meat disguised as marmalade has been detained by the Kingisepp Customs Service of the Leningrad Region on the Russia-Estonia border, according to the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor).
“Meat and lard produced in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland have been discovered during the examination of 23 refrigerated containers that were supposed to carry frozen mushrooms, juices, marmalade and chewing gum, according to the accompanying documents,” Rosselkhoznadzor said in a statement published on its website.
An investigation is now underway.
This is not the first case of this type. The Primorye Customs Service detained over 100 tons of illegal meat products from the US on August 27. Furthermore, a tourist tried to smuggle 70 kilograms of pâté, Rosselkhoznadzor reported on August 21.
On August 7, the Russian government introduced a ban on a number of products from countries, who earlier had imposed sanctions on Russia for its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian civil war. Blacklisted food imports include meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from Australia, Canada, Norway, the European Union and the United States.
