Turkey declared that henceforth an approval from attache’s office or undersecretariat will be necessary for 7 products being imported from Russia, including wheat. The decision that stated to be taken on a reciprocal basis was criticized by Russia.

Turkish Ministry of Customs and Trade have sent an official letter titled ‘Russia invoice approval’ to relevant regional directorates. In the letter, it is stated that from now on invoices approved by attache’s office or undersecretariat will be required for the import of the products from Russia Federation regardless of country of destination. The above-mentioned decree involves common wheat, crude sunflower seed oil, corn, dry peas, paddy, sunflower meal and durum wheat

Bülent Tüfenkci, Turkish Minister of Customs and Trade, said an approval was already required for some products that were imported by Russia. In his statement on the new regulation, Tüfenkci stated that what Turkey had done is to set conditions for the relevant products on a reciprocal basis “The decision is not a restriction,” he explained.

RUSSIA: WE DIDN’T EXPECT THIS Russian Ministry of Agriculture Aleksandr Tkaçev reacted to the decision announced by Turkey. Tkaçev said Russia will respond to the new restrictions imposed by Turkey, according to the news announced by Russian agency TASS. ‘’We didn’t expect this at all. Contrarily, it is necessary to ease the customs procedure. Therefore, when we see such measures, we will properly respond about the import of vegetables, fruits, and citrus fruits such as mandarin and orange,’’ said Tkaçev.

Russian minister continued his speech as follows: ‘’All these will not cause to ease the restrictions but tense the situation even more. Turkish market is an interesting one for us. We are trying our best in order to defuse the tension. However, beyond any doubt, in case Turkish side imposes new restrictions, we will take necessary measures. We won’t knuckle under this.”