The Russian agency for veterinary and phytosanitary inspection has warned the Bosnian Embassy in Moscow that figures collected by the Russian customs administration showed that exports of food and agricultural products from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Russia had increased threefold so far in 2014 compared to the corresponding period in 2013.
In the first nine months of 2013, Bosnia's food and agricultural exports to Russia totalled 1,014 tonnes, while in the first nine months of 2014 they reached 3,123 tonnes.
Russian media said that these figures showed that Bosnia and Herzegovina was re-exporting EU-made products banned in Russia.
For instance, so far this year 389 tonnes of grapes have been exported from Bosnia to Russia as against 68 tonnes in 2013. In addition, Bosnian exports of apple skyrocketed to over 2,000 tonnes, as against a mere 10 tonnes in 2013.
Although the Russian authorities asked for explanations, Bosnia's ministries have not yet given their response. Moscow, for instance, requested data on land allotment for orchards or acreage of land where potatoes are grown and average yields of apple, pear, grape and potato.
Local farmers and fruit growers now fear that Bosnia may also be added to the list of countries on which Moscow imposed the ban and accuse middlemen of using this opportunity and re-exporting products to Russia, posing a risk to Bosnian agriculture producers.