Hosts buy cheap fish from Russia

Despite caviar being on the sanctions list, tons of Russian fish continue to arrive in Europe. The cheap product is also popular in Switzerland, especially in restaurants and hotels.

Pascal Michel / CH Media

Russia is the fourth largest producer of fish in the world. Each year the local fishing industry removes 4.7 million tons of animals from the water. The country exports goods all over the world. According to the United Nations, these exports will be worth $7.4 billion in 2022. Ascending trend.

Russian perch and Alaskan pollock end up on Swiss plates. Comprehensive sanctions against Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine have not changed this. Last year, Swiss traders imported 646 tons of Russian fish. This corresponds to a value of more than 7.2 million francs, as announced by the Federal Customs Office at the request of CH Media.

Cheap fish from Russia is especially popular in the food industry. Every cent counts when calculating the menu price. For example, the wholesaler Transgourmet, which belongs to the Coop Group, sells Russian perch fillets for 17.90 francs per kilo. Its origin is clearly stated in the online store: caught in Russia, processed in Kazakhstan. By comparison: Swiss eglise costs almost three times as much – more than 50 francs per kilo.

Famous in gastronomy: Russian perch fillet.Screenshot: MBA

The “quality fish fingers” look is lacking from the current Transgourmet brochure. The only information on the origin of the fish is: “FAO 61/67”. According to international standards, this code represents the fishing area in the Northeast and Western Pacific. The fact that Russia is also actively fishing in the Northwest Pacific can only be understood by clients through additional research. However, such notification is permitted under Swiss law.

There is no ban on importing and selling Russian fish in this country. EU sanctions block imports of Russian caviar and shellfish — but not fish. “Economic sanctions of the European Union or Switzerland do not currently prohibit the import of fish from the Russian Federation or provide a relevant notification requirement,” writes the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) upon request. In addition, “Switzerland’s global food supply is an important concern”.

The continued unhindered flow of poutine fish onto local plates is a source of irritation for the industry. An experienced Swiss trader, who has been importing fish from Estonia and Finland for years, says: “It is a lie that we buy tons of Russian fish, while we allow Putin everywhere.” It is clear that Russia is trying to get urgently needed foreign currency through its fish exports at “absurd prices”. “We should not participate in that.”

Even if Switzerland cannot impose its own bans, the trader believes Russian fish should at least be more clearly declared. He believes this is already leading to a decline in sales.

The US also has Russian fisheries in its sights

America is taking a much harder line. After the Russian war of aggression, they not only put oil, gas and gold on their sanctions list, but also targeted Russian fishing.

Last year, US President Joe Biden was forced to tighten the relevant law. Because Vladimir Putin tried to hide his exports through China.

US President Joe Biden has already taken action.Build: Keystone

Rep. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, explained how the Kremlin overruled the fish embargoes during a bill debate in the US Senate: “The regimes of Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are working together to circumvent US sanctions. They ship fish and seafood caught in Russian waters to China. There the goods are processed by Uighur slave labor and then shipped to the United States. According to Sullivan, a strict import ban would not only harm Putin’s war machine, but also contribute to the fight against Chinese forced labor.

Ukraine welcomes such initiatives. an official in charge of sanctions policy asked recently “To Al Jazeera” Rhetorical question: “Are the lives of a few hundred Ukrainians worth as much as a crab or a salmon?” Message from Kiev to the EU and Switzerland: The fish’s head stinks. Anyone who buys Russian fish supports Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin benefits from Swiss fish purchases, according to accusations from Kiev and Brussels.Build: Keystone

A boycott in retail, but not in wholesale

However, Switzerland has no chance of stopping Putin’s fish business. The Federal Council relies on EU and UN sanctions. He cannot and does not want to impose his own restrictions. A spokesman for the EU Commission declined to answer whether related measures would be an issue in the upcoming European sanctions package.

Transgourmet, a Coop subsidiary and gastro wholesaler, does not release any statistics on Russian fish sales. “Demand in the catering industry depends on the type of fish and further processing of the products. Price and availability are important. We are fully implementing EU sanctions against Russia for shellfish and caviar.

Transgourmet once had close ties to Russia. The company that bought the coupe in 2011 also had branches in Russia. However, after Putin’s war of aggression, Transkurmet sold it to local administration and withdrew from the country entirely.

Like the Russian Fish range, Transgourmet doesn’t completely separate itself from Russia. Parent company Coop has taken a very decisive step here. In retail, he no longer wanted to expose Russian food to customers and removed it in March 2022 from a range that included frozen fish and vodka. But it seems that Russian fish is still good enough for gastronomy. (aargauerzeitung.ch)