Latvia proposes national sanctions to ban Belarusian grain transit after surge to 185,756 tonnes
Key Facts
Latvia’s Foreign Ministry has proposed banning the transit of Russian and Belarusian grain through the country under a national sanctions mechanism, in a move that remains a draft and has not taken effect. The ministry said, according to Diena, citing LETA, that it had prepared a draft regulation in cooperation with other ministries and submitted it to Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs. The proposal comes after Riga concluded that support from European Union member states is currently insufficient to impose a unified bloc-wide ban. Transit data cited in the report show a sharp rise in Belarusian grain shipments through Latvia during the first ten months of the year. The government is therefore considering a national route while continuing to work at the European level.
The ministry said it presented the government with three possible scenarios for banning grain transit on October 13, before choosing the national sanctions route. The framework, it said, allows specific restrictions to be imposed, compliance to be monitored and violators to be held accountable. It also said the relevant authorities can oversee implementation and apply the liability provided for by law. This gives the proposal monitoring and enforcement tools under national legislation, while its approval and implementation remain subject to completion of the government process. The step follows the failure so far of the joint European ban option to secure sufficient support.
The volume of grain transported from Belarus through Latvia reached 185,756 tonnes in the first ten months of 2026, compared with 60.8 tonnes in the same period of 2025, according to data cited by Diena from LETA. The gap highlights the expansion of Belarusian transit during the period and puts trade flows at the center of the debate over the proposed ban’s scope. The report does not provide a comparable figure for Russian transit, so the numerical comparison here is specific to Belarus. Parliament has meanwhile called for Russian and Belarusian grain to be barred from entering the country, including in transit. The ministry’s initiative gives the government an implementation mechanism following parliament’s call.
On September 24, Latvia’s parliament called on the government to prepare a legal framework to immediately halt the entry of Russian and Belarusian grain and ban its entry in the future, including in transit. The resolution said existing rules already prohibit imports of agricultural products and animal feed from Russia and Belarus. The restrictions also cover agricultural products and animal feed from third countries if they originate in Russia or Belarus. This distinguishes the existing import ban from the proposal now under consideration to address transit through Latvian territory. The draft therefore focuses on transit shipments, an issue parliament called to include explicitly in the legal framework.
The ministry acknowledged that a ban could lead to lawsuits over the implementation of contracts already concluded and could affect the transport and logistics sectors as well as budget revenues. It also noted the need for national rules to comply with European Union law. It described the risks as manageable, but they remain part of the considerations involved in drafting and implementing the regulation. The warnings show that the decision’s potential impact would extend beyond grain shipments to contractual obligations and transport-related services. The report provided no financial estimate of the impact on the budget or the two sectors.
At the European level, Foreign Minister Baiba Braže on October 12 called on EU countries to agree on a ban on imports of Russian grain and its transit across the bloc. The ministry said, however, that current support was insufficient to approve a unified ban, prompting it to prepare a national proposal while European-level work continued. This puts Latvia between a domestic parliamentary call to restrict transit and a broader effort to unify restrictions among member states. Parliament’s resolution also said limited capacity at Russian ports could increase the transit of Russian grain through the Baltic region in the coming months. It estimated that several million tonnes could pass through Baltic ports during the current season, giving the transit issue regional importance beyond Latvia.