“We haven’t identified any violations to date; we simply noticed a decrease in the number of those transporting grain,” Gediminas Gvazdaitis, director of the Supervision Department at the State Food and Veterinary Service, told LRT RADIO.

Starting Monday, the authorities have been examining every rail or road shipment destined for the Lithuanian market or intended for export via the Klaipėda Port. They are considering further tightening the controls in the near future to include verification of the origin of grain passing through Lithuania.

Currently, the authorities are exclusively examining feed grain shipments, but Gvazdaitis expressed the desire of the State Food and Veterinary Service to also inspect food grain shipments.

Neringa Motiejūnaitė, who heads the Customs Department’s Procedures Division, remarked that customs declaration data indicates a definite decline in the quantities of grain imported from Russia and other high-risk countries.

Gvazdaitis explained that under the enhanced grain import controls, the authorities are sampling and testing every shipment, departing from the previous practice of testing every twentieth shipment.

The roster of high-risk countries encompasses Russia, Belarus, Transnistria, Russia’s annexed Crimea, other Ukrainian territories not under the control of the Kyiv government, as well as Abkhazia and South Ossetia.