The stark simplicity and blanket nature of the Russian move has caught the West, in particular the EU, by surprise. A total ban on food imports from the EU, USA, Canada and Australia will impact directly on the agricultural sectors of all the countries but with particular ferocity in the EU. Apparently the value to the EU of its food exports to Russia was about 12 billion euros per year. With the EU on the brink of recession the loss of this market cannot be good news.