Latvia to call for higher EU tariffs on a wider range of Russian and Belarusian goods

  • 2024-11-15
  • LETA/TBT Staff

RIGA - At a meeting of the European Union's (EU) Agriculture and Fisheries Council next Monday, Latvia will propose raising import tariffs on a wider range of agricultural and food products from Russia and Belarus, LETA was told at the Agriculture Ministry.

The Agriculture Ministry's State Secretary Girts Krumins will represent Latvia at the meeting.

According to the ministry's representatives, in the first half of this year Latvia proposed and secured significant tariff hikes on several agricultural products of Russian and Belarusian origin.

In the third quarter of this year, imports of these products in Latvia significantly decreased compared to the second quarter, which is an indication of the increased customs tariffs' effectiveness, the Agriculture Ministry said.

The Agriculture Ministry has prepared a new list of Russian and Belarusian products on which the import tariffs should be urgently increased. Latvia will therefore call on other EU member states to support this proposal and raise customs tariffs also on other Russian and Belarusian products as soon as possible.

As reported, members of the Saeima European Affairs Committee on Wednesday, November 13, underlined the need to tighten restrictions on Russia in order to prevent the regime's ability to make money.

The parliamentary committee at Wednesday's meeting unanimously approved the Agriculture Ministry's national position on the proposal for setting customs tariffs on a broader range of Russian and Belarusian products in order to tighten the European Union's restrictions on imports from these countries.

MPs noted the importance of raising tariffs on fish products, as Russia has started uncontrolled fishing in the Baltic Sea. For example, Russia catches around 2,000 tons of cod per year, while EU Member States are only allowed to catch this species as by-catch, members of the Saeima committee noted.

The MPs stressed that Russia's actions in the Baltic Sea are undermining both the marine ecosystem and the ability of the EU, including Latvia, to obtain compliance certificates and access major markets in the sector.