Russia's chief sanitary official said in a live radio interview with Ekho Moskvy on Tuesday that Moldovan wine should not be consumed and should be used to paint fences.
"Moldovan wine should be used to paint fences," Gennady Onishchenko said.
"It should not be consumed just in Russia but also nowhere else as the product is not interesting," he continued.
Onishchenko said dangerous ingredients were found in 18 batches of Moldovan wine on June 30-July 2, 2010.
"The situation is that between June 30 and July 2, in 18 batches [of wine] or in 102,000 bottles of three companies we found dangerous ingredients such as dibutyl phthalate, which should not be in wine at all," Onishchenko said. "This indicates that during fermentation... the wine was kept in plastic containers," he continued. "And the second was the fungicide metalaxyl, which exceeded the limits."
Dibutyl phthalate is used as a plasticizer and is added to adhesives and printing inks. Metalaxyl is a fungicide used against root rot.
Russia, which previously imported 80% of all wine produced in Moldova, imposed an embargo on Moldovan imports in March 2006. The ban dealt a severe blow to the small, impoverished ex-Soviet nation's economy, bringing many winemaking enterprises close to bankruptcy.
The ban was introduced after tests revealed the presence of pesticides and heavy metals in Moldovan wine.
Russia resumed imports in 2007 of Moldovan wine, meat, as well as apples, grapes, tobacco, and sunflower seeds, following a resolution to some of the "quality issues," but imposed strict standards on imports.
In July 2009, Russia lifted all restrictions on the import of Moldovan wine and was even prepared to open extra custom points.
MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti)
