Putin Destroying Tons of Food smuggled in to hungry Russia

                                                                          

Authorities burn  more than 150 tons of pork products, 10 tons of cheese, and 73 tons of peaches

The smell was overpowering: Russia's war on contraband food is continuing with the country's agricultural watchdog destroying more than 10 tons of imported cheese products which it says had been brought illegally into the country. Earlier in the week nearly 150 tons of imported pork products were burned in industrial incinerators as Moscow marked the one year anniversary of its ban on Western goods.

So what imported products are illegal in Russia?   

-meat products this includes beef, pork, chicken, and seafood
-dairy products this includes cheese and milk
-fruits and vegetables this also includes nut products

After discovering a label reading "Made in Denmark for export to Ukraine", a Russia agricultural official ordered the destruction of all 35 tons of suspicious pork.

  

Andrei Panchenko, Head of Russian Agricultural Watchdog in Belgorod region: "Any product without documents poses a security threat and should be destroyed."

But not everyone shares this view. Russian member of parliament Andrey Krutov has written an appeal to the agricultural watchdog asking for the contraband food to be sent to regions of Ukraine being occupied by Russian-backed militants.

Meanwhile, 260,000 Russians have signed a petition to stop authorities from destroying the illegally imported food which also includes 73 tons of peaches and nectarines.

 

Russia imposed a ban on the import on a wide range of Western foods last year in retaliation against Western sanctions over Russia's military aggression in Ukraine. The new decree to destroy all smuggled foods, which came into force on August 6, was ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin