The trade war between the US and China, which escalated in 2018 (and which Trump will likely continue in the coming year), can be seen as a mere episode in the broader context of global economic conflicts. In the Union State, however, there have been countless such wars, which is understandable given the volume of trade between Russia and Belarus. There seems to be no end in sight for these wars, which differ from Western sanctions primarily due to the significant role of the “technical component.”
Recently, Rosselkhoznadzor (RZN) discovered Escherichia coli bacteria in Belarusian cheeses. The bacteria was found in products from the Shchuchyn branch of “Molochny Mir.” However, the Ministry of Agriculture of Belarus dismissed RZN’s claim as a fake news release about Belarusian cheese. So far, this episode has not led to the start of a “third” dairy war (following the “first” and “second” wars of 2009 and 2016).
A Symmetrical Response? On December 10, Belarusian regulatory authorities banned the sale of Russian-produced buckwheat. The reason for the ban was that the buckwheat was marketed as quick-cooking but did not meet the specified criterion outlined in one of the technical regulations of the Customs Union “On Food Safety.” According to Belarusian standards, quick-cooking buckwheat should be ready in no more than 25 minutes, but the Barnaul buckwheat (among others) takes up to 29 minutes.
A few days earlier, according to Rosselkhoznadzor, 500 kg of ready-made meat products were returned from the Bryansk region to Belarus. During the inspection, it was discovered that the carrier lacked the veterinary documents required to confirm the quality and safety of the products. A similar incident occurred on December 6 in the Pskov region, where over a ton of beef was sent back to Belarus.
In early December, Belarus decided to remove from sale a popular children’s treat—Russian ice cream. Earlier, in October, the State Standard of Belarus added Russian ground black pepper “Trapeza” to the list of dangerous products and also banned several popular Russian-made laundry detergents.
Russian alcohol regularly appears in the list of hazardous products, which is updated almost every month with new items.
According to Belarus’ State Standard, as a result of inspections and monitoring activities in 2023, 2,072 product items (mostly of Russian origin) were added to the “blacklist” of banned products for import and circulation in the country. The leading items on the blacklist were children’s and teenagers’ products (26% of the total banned items). Electrical goods ranked second (20%), followed by food products (18%).
It is still unclear how many trade bans between Belarus and Russia will be recorded by the end of 2024. It is evident that the intensified Union building in the past four years has done little to resolve this ongoing issue.
