European Commission sets up central contact point on EU sanctions for foreign authorities and operators

EU sanctions only apply within EU jurisdiction and EU nationals. However, in recent months the Commission has received from non-EU authorities and operators an increasing number of technical queries on the scope and implementation of EU sanctions against Russia, and especially on matters related to food security.

In order to better address such queries, the European Commission has now set up a dedicated mailbox ec-sanctions-internationalec [dot] europa [dot] eu (ec-sanctions-international[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).

This central contact point is meant to give more clarity specifically to non-EU authorities and operators, and encourage them to reach out directly to the Commission when they face difficulties in interpreting EU sanctions. It is also meant to help ensure that the flow of agrifood products and fertilisers to their countries continues unimpeded.

The restrictive measures which the EU has imposed on Russia in response to Moscow’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine do not ban the export of Russian agricultural and food products, including fertilisers, to third countries, be it directly or indirectly. The EU has made significant efforts to ensure that our targeted sanctions in other fields do not indirectly impact trade in agri-food products to third countries.

Despite Russia’s efforts to misrepresent the EU sanctions as causing a food crisis, Russia’s propaganda and disinformation gets confused in its own conflicting narratives. According to FAO data and to Russia’s own claims, Russian fertilisers exports to the world continued in 2022 and its agri-food export to the world in 2022 and increased.

This new contact point will contribute to setting the record straight and to provide reliable information to stakeholders from third countries.