The US Treasury Department has imposed a ban on imports of Russian salmon, cod, pollock, and crab, as well as on seafood products obtained from their processing, an official statement published on Friday said.
The crackdown on seafood imports is part of a broader effort by US President Joe Biden to strengthen penalties on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.
An executive order signed by Biden on Friday will also target Russian-caught seafood processed in third-party countries – including China, a major importer of Russian marine products.
The embargo applies to fish and crab harvested in waters under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation or by Russian-flagged vessels outside of Russian waters, even if this seafood has later been reprocessed and substantially transformed outside of Russia.
“As a result, the importation and entry into the United States, including importation for admission into a foreign trade zone located in the United States, of such salmon, cod, pollock, or crab is prohibited,” the statement by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control reads.
The initial US sanctions on Russian seafood rolled out in March 2022 prohibited marine products exported directly to the United States, but allowed those products to move freely to American consumers if they were first processed in another country.
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