A high-level proposal to completely ban air travelers in Russia from carrying personal amounts of red caviar has ignited a fierce dispute between a top federal official and regional leaders. Sergey Dankvert, the head of Russia’s agricultural watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, is advocating for a total prohibition to replace the current 10-kilogram limit, citing risks of food poisoning from unregulated products and questioning the necessity for individuals to transport such quantities.
The proposed ban was swiftly condemned by Vladimir Solodov, the governor of the Kamchatka region, a major hub for the delicacy in Russia’s Far East. He described the idea as unworkable and harmful, stressing that red caviar is a staple food for many local residents, including indigenous peoples who have legal rights to harvest it. “To deprive people of the right to transport a legally produced product… is like forbidding gardeners from transporting apples grown for their own needs,” Solodov argued, highlighting its cultural and economic importance to the region.
Governor Solodov defended the current experimental system, in place since November 2022, which limits passengers to 10 kilograms of non-factory-made caviar per flight. He asserted that this measure has proven highly effective in combating industrial-scale poaching, which previously saw traffickers disguise huge illegal shipments as personal luggage. He pointed to past cases where single passengers attempted to fly with as much as two tons of black-market caviar, falsely declared for personal use.
For residents of Russia’s Pacific regions like Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and Primorsky Krai, the right to transport reasonable amounts of caviar for family and friends is a fundamental part of life. Solodov labeled a complete prohibition a “meaningless and harmful decision” that would infringe upon the rights of law-abiding citizens while failing to solve the root problem of poaching. With the government recently backing an extension of the current 10kg-limit experiment until 2027, the regional pushback appears to have secured a temporary victory against the proposed blanket ban.