Lithuania to start detaining grain from Russia and Belarus on November 16

Lithuania will begin detaining grain shipments from Russia and Belarus passing through the port of Klaipėda from November 16 until the results of verification of their origin are obtained. The procedure could take two months or more, a Lithuanian agriculture ministry official said.

The new requirements will apply to wheat, barley, corn and sunflower seeds. Until the completion of laboratory tests, such goods will not undergo customs clearance. Lithuania began checking the origin of grain supplies from Russia and Belarus in September.

A representative of the Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture warned that inspections could last two months or longer. If it turns out that the information about the origin of the grain was falsified, the cargo will be sent back or destroyed.

The duration of the procedure is due to the lack of laboratories in Lithuania capable of carrying out the necessary research. Therefore, samples of products will have to be sent for examination abroad. All costs for the storage of detained consignments, laboratory tests, as well as possible return or destruction of grain will be imposed on exporters. At the same time, EU sanctions prohibit the import of Russian grain, but its transit through the territory of the association is allowed.

On October 1, Estonia officially banned the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through its territory, becoming the first Baltic country to impose such restrictions.

Later, Prime Ministers of Estonia and Latvia Kristen Michal and Andris Kulbergs, as well as Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called on the European Union to ban the transit of Russian grain through the bloc. At the EU level, the restrictions previously concerned imports, not transit.

Russia considers the restrictions of Western countries illegal. The Kremlin has repeatedly said that the Russian economy continues to operate under “huge amounts of sanctions” and has developed “a certain immunity” to them.