Russian authorities have intercepted and destroyed 178 metric tons (MT) of apples falsely labeled as grown in Macedonia.

In mid-2015, a presidential decree was signed pledging to destroy all illegal foodstuffs entering the country in a bid to counteract a gray trade that has subverted a ban on produce from the European Union.

It was a move that polls at the time showed two in every five Russians supported, but almost half the population was against the measure with particular concerns over the humanitarian consequences.

Just 10 months since that decree was signed, European fruits and vegetables in disguise continue to cross the border but usually in consignments measured in kilograms up to a few MT.

But 178MT is a much larger number than the usual reports. The shipment, transported in nine vehicles, was intercepted by the office of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) for the regions of Rostov and Volgograd and the Republic of Kalmykia.

The food safety watchdog contacted plant health authorities from Macedonia to address the authenticity of phytosanitary certificates on the apples, but after they were not confirmed it was determined they were fake.

The apples were then dumped into landfill in the MatveevoKurganskogo area of Rostov.

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