In controversial move, Russia destroys contraband food

World Today

The Russian government has extended a ban on food imports for another year, including cheeses and dairy products, meat, fish, fruit and vegetables from Australia, Canada, the E.U., the U.S., and Norway.

Despite the ban, many Western products made their way into Russian supermarkets. In a controversial move, Moscow launched an offensive to destroy contraband food. Tons of cheese and cured ham were bulldozed over or burnt. The move caused a public outcry. With one in seven people in Russia living below the poverty line, thousands of people are calling for an end to destruction of food, and calling for it to be given to the poor instead.

CCTV’s Julia Lyubova filed this report that looked at the winners and losers of the ban.


Damian Mason on Russia’s food import bans

For more on Russia food import bans, CCTV spoke to Damian Mason, an agriculturist who grew up on a farm, currently owns a farm and has a degree in Agricultural Economics.