Baltic States, UK Unite Against Illicit Russian Grain Exports
Ukraine, Latvia, and the UK are set to sign a memorandum next week that aims to verify the origin of Russian grain transiting through Baltic ports.
The verification process will determine whether grain declared as Russian is actually stolen from Ukraine's occupied territories.
This comes after Ukraine, Lithuania, and the UK signed a memorandum in January 2025 to launch the Grain Verification Scheme (GVS) to combat the illegal export of Ukrainian grain from occupied territories.
The system is already in use at the Lithuanian port of Klaipėda, where feed grain from high-risk countries like Russia and Belarus is subject to geographic origin testing.
In September 2026, Lithuania collected the first samples of grain whose intended use was unclear in customs declarations, sparking concerns about its country of origin.