Question
Have the Faroe islands continued to export products to Russia that fall under the EU embargo?
Has the Commission or the Danish Government taken this up with the Faroese authorities?
Answer
The Faroe Islands, which are autonomous in their trade policy, have distanced themselves from the restrictive measures adopted by the EU and likeminded partners towards Russia and have not been targeted by Russia’s partial food import ban in force since August 2014.
In view of the need to ensure the unity of the international community and to uphold the rule of law on trade matters, the EU has called on countries not affected by the Russian import ban to refrain from supporting or encouraging exports of products affected by the ban. However, there are indications that Faroese exports to Russia, in particular of salmon, increased significantly after the introduction of the import ban.
During the Joint Committee meeting of the Free Trade Agreement EU — Faroe Islands which took place in May 2015, in Torshavn, the Commission expressed regret that the apparent increased Faroese trade with Russia in recent months did not reflect an appropriate level of solidarity with the situation faced by the EU in its relations with Russia. The representatives of the Faroe Islands described the information coming from the press as inadequate and offered to provide the Commission with factual information on Faroese trade relations with Russia, which has however not been received so far.
