Fish and chip shop owners say they face a battering from sanctions on Russian cod and haddock 

Fish and chip shops say government sanctions on Russian cod and haddock could drive many of them to bankruptcy.

Ministers are planning to impose punitive trade tariffs on whitefish exports from the country in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Government sources said: ‘It is included on a list of Russian products we’ve said we intend to introduce tariffs on.’

They told The Daily Telegraph: ‘There are no timescales on when we intend to introduce the tariffs but we’ve made it very clear we intend to introduce them.’

About 30 per cent of Britain’s whitefish is imported from Russia, which controls 45 per cent of the global market.

Shortages of cod, haddock and sunflower oil – half of which is usually imported from Ukraine – have left a third of takeaways fearing they could be forced to shut.

National Federation of Fish Friers president Andrew Crook said the new tariffs would ‘pile more pressure on an industry that is already feeling the full force of inflationary costs’.

He added: ‘If they feel this is the best way to apply pressure on Putin then we have to go with it.

‘We don’t expect special treatment but I hope the Government does start to listen to the calls from the whole of the hospitality industry for a long-term strategy for the sector, and part of that has to be a reduction in VAT.’