EU ambassadors negotiating the next round of sanctions in Brussels pored over a 146-page long list of items that will no longer be exported to Russia.
The main thrust of the trade embargo, worth €11bn a year, is to stop sales of high-tech items that can be used in Russian weapons systems.
This includes electronics, lasers, radio equipment, software, avionics, marine cameras, and rare-earth minerals, according to documents seen by EUobserver.
The list drills into minutiae, specifying items such as "molecular beam epitaxial growth equipment" (used in nanotechnology) and "4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine" (a precursor for making nerve toxins).
The list includes "bidets, lavatory pans, flushing cisterns and similar sanitary ware", as well as LEDs, hemp yarn, fork-lift trucks, mail-sorting machines, chimney pots, bricks, tyres, and even "pen nibs and nib points".
It also includes "pyrotechnic devices when designed exclusively for commercial purposes".
The tenth package of EU sanctions against Russia is expected to be introduced by February 24.
