RIGA - Russian health authorities leveled a sales ban on canned fish products of five more Latvian canneries last week, dealing a further blow to the Baltic state's canning industry and triggering charges of protectionism. Rospotrebnadzor, the state-run consumer protection service, announced on Nov. 2 that canned fish products of five Latvian firms - Ventspils Fish Cannery, Unda, Licis-93, Kolumbija and Ulmes - pose a health hazard and had to be pulled from Russian store shelves.
The bureau stated that laboratory analysis of the five firms' canned fish products indicated an excessively high level - from two to 10 times the permissable norm - of benzopyrene, a carcinogenic substance.
It is unclear whether an outright ban on imports from the five companies would follow.
The decision follows a recent ban by Russia on imports of all fish products of two large fish processors - Brivais Vilnis and Gamma-A - for the same reason. On Nov. 3 Vilnais Brivis, which exports some 30 percent of its output to Russia, announced that it was laying off 100 workers due to the sudden ban.
Remarkably, Latvia's fish canners admit they are in violation of Russia's health norms, but they are quick to add that this hasn't prevented them from receiving certification and selling their products to Russia in the past.
As Inarijs Voits, head of the Latvian Fisheries Association, explained, the EU norm for benzopyrene - which increases as a result of the smoking process used for sprats - is five micrograms per one kilogram of fish. In Russia the level is five times higher, or one microgram per kilogram of fish. Thus Latvia's sprats, which are valued throughout the world but are particularly popular in the former Soviet Union, meet EU standards but not Russian ones.
"The decision is not justified," said Voits, stressing that Russian sprats contain no less benzopyrene than Latvian sprats.
In fact, Latvian sprat producers aim to prove that their Russian competitors are in violation of their own norms. Arnold Babris, CEO of Brivais Vilnis, said he has sent samples of Russian sprats to a lab for analysis and that he was waiting for the results.
Babris described the ban as "market manipulation." He and Voits both pointed out that in August a bronze monument to Russian sprats was unveiled in Kaliningrad as part of a revival of sprat production in the Baltic exclave.
"If it turns out that Russian producers are not fulfilling this norms, then it'll be possible to raise the issue of discrimination on Russia's domestic market," said Babris.
"This sprats situation is a two-edged sword," said Voits. "Russia begins to hit others, and then they start to hit back."
Russia currently absorbs some 40 percent of the Latvian fish processors' output. Naturally, the loss of such a large market will deal a tremendous blow to the fishing industry, which last year represented Latvia's second largest export group after forestry and wood.
Latvia's fish product exports amounted to 55 million lats (79.3 million euros) last year, of which Russia imported some 30 million lats. Sixty percent of which were Latvian canned fish products, according to Voits.
Given the stakes, Latvian fish producers and canners are scrambling to find a solution or at least a temporary reprieve. Veterinary authorities reportedly flew to Moscow on Nov. 6 to initiate talks, and reports indicate that the Latvian delegation will ask for a transition period during which Russia would relax its benzopyrene norms.
For now, any political implications to the sprats ban are being ruled out. Atis Lotis, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said the ministry did not consider Russia's decision political and that the issue should be resolved between the competent authorities.
In recent months Russia has imposed more restrictions on imports of food and drink, and the list has grown to include United States poultry, Georgian wine and mineral water, Norwegian salmon and Ukrainian meat.
In the case of Georgian beverages, the ban is widely regarded as politically motivated, fueling speculation that Russia is becoming increasingly bolder in using economic means to protect domestic industry and gain its political ends.
What is benzopyrene? Benzopyrene is an aromatic hydrocarbon found in cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes and charbroiled food. Numerous studies over the past decades have linked it with cancer. Little known to Balts or Russians, their beloved shashlyk, or shish-kebab, is a cooking technique guaranteed to raise the level of benzopyrene in meat to levels much higher than the level found in smoked sprats.
As Babris explained, Latvian sprats are exposed to smoke for about 1.5 minutes, or enough to give them a yellowish tint and the trademark taste. Yet it is still enough for the benzopyrene level to exceed the Russian norm. Now compare this to the beef, chicken or pork that is slow-cooked over on an open fire fueled by coal or wood, and the amount of benzopyrene will be significantly higher, Voits said.
