Russia imported medicine worth $6.8 billion last year, down 32.7 percent compared to 2014, the Federal Customs Service said in a statement Friday.
The import of drugs to Russia from outside the former Soviet Union dropped 32.9 percent to $6.7 billion. Imports into Russia from CIS countries were worth $119 million, 21 percent less than in 2014, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the volume of antibiotics imported into Russia decreased by 2.6 percent in 2015 to $84.2 million, according to the Federal Customs Service.

Russia approved the launch of a new wheat export tax from July 1, which traders say could threaten profits on advance contracts for the new crop if the ruble weakens in coming months.
Russia's government said on Friday that the new tax was intended to stop exports surging if the ruble drops steeply. The ruble fell sharply against the dollar in 2014, fueling grain exports, and is yet to fully recover.

Russia has refused to allow almost a ton of German and U.S. tea into the country, with customs officials saying the produce violated Moscow's ban on Western food imports.
After 970 kilograms of German herbal tea was detained Friday in the Siberian region of Novosibirsk, officials said Monday that they had seized a smaller shipment of tea and ice-drink mixes on the far eastern island of Sakhalin, the Interfax news agency reported.
About 28 kilograms of tea produced by a U.S. company was part of the cargo aboard a ship arriving from the South Korean port of Busan, the Sakhalin region's customs service was quoted as saying by Interfax.

Even as Russia seeks to deepen and expand trade alliances in the face of economic isolation from the West, the unilateral trade restrictions that Moscow unleashed last week show just how far its Customs Union is from a genuine economic alliance, analysts said.
Russia last Thursday unilaterally banned deliveries of meat, poultry, fish, cheese, milk and dairy products from the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway in retribution  for the countries' sanctions against Russia over its policy in Ukraine.

Recent amendments to the Federal Law on Customs Regulation in Russia (as amended by Federal Law No. 115-FZ on Amendments to the Federal Law on Customs Regulation in the Russian Federation of May 5, 2014 with respect to the institution of authorized economic operator) (the "Law") have made the status of authorized economic operator (AEO) even more attractive for businesses.
The amendments affect both the conceptual framework and the practical aspects of the Law. The amendments can be regarded as largely positive.
An AEO is a legal entity incorporated under the law of a member state of the Customs Union that meets certain requirements and has been entered in a special register. Under the current legislation, a wide range of entities — from manufacturers, importers, exporters, customs brokers, customs carriers, intermediaries, distributors, to other persons involved in one way or another with foreign economic activities — are eligible for this favorable status. The amendments made to the law with respect to the concept of AEO unify the advantages that AEO status gives to manufacturers and other kinds of entity (retailers, service providers).

This article provides information on the rules for confirming safety of goods imported to the territory of the Customs Union of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation.
The main functions of the safety requirements is the protection of 1) life and health of people; 2) property; 3) ecological environment; 4) life and health of animals and plants; 5) prevention of misunderstanding of the consumers; 6) energetic efficiency and resource preservation. The application of the safety requirements for other purposes (e.g. the use of the provisions of the technical regulations in order to substantiate the collection of customs payments, etc.) is not required (Agreement on the single principles and rules of technical regulation in the Republic of Belarus, Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation dated 18 November 2010 (hereinafter — the Agreement on technical regulation), Art. 4 (2)).