Russia’s agricultural watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, says a ban that it announced on July 18 against imports of fruit from Moldova has gone into effect immediately.
Rosselkhoznadzor initially said the ban would take effect on July 21.
The ban includes a block on imports of fresh apples, pears, and quince apples as well as fresh apricots, cherries, peaches, nectarines, and plums.
Moldova -- along with Ukraine and Georgia – signed landmark economic and political accords last month with the European Union.
The move infuriated the Kremlin, which has repeatedly used economic pressure to try to stop former republics from attaining closer integration with the EU.
