Russia has banned fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and dairy imports from the United States, the European unio, Australia, Canada and Norway, Russias prime minister told a government meeting today.

Dmitry Medvedev said the ban was effective immediately and would last for one year.

Russian officials were yesterday asked to come up with a list of western agricultural products and raw materials to be banned.

Russia is Europes second largest market for food and drink and has been an important consumer of Polish pig meat and Dutch fruit and vegetables. Exports of food and raw materials to Russia were worth €12.2bn (£9.7bn) in 2013, following several years of double-digit growth.

The UK is less likely to lose out; in 2013 its biggest food and drink export was £17m of frozen fish, followed by £5.7m of cheese and £5.3m of coffee.

Food has already been caught up in political tensions between Russia and the west. In recent days Russian food safety authorities have banned the import of Polish fruit and vegetables, while McDonalds cheeseburgers and milkshakes are being investigated by a regional branch of consumer protection agency Rospotrebnadzor.

EU pork was banned at the start of the year as the Ukraine crisis escalated, cutting off 25% of all European pig meat exports in a move that the European Commission said exposed European farmers to significant losses.