MOSCOW, October 19 (RIA Novosti) - Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia's agricultural watchdog, temporarily banned imports of meat by-products from the European Union on Saturday over violations of veterinary-sanitary requirements.
"Taking into account the systematic and serious nature of violations of the legislation of the Customs Union, Russia and the European Union itself, Rosselkhozandzor considers it necessary to impose temporary restrictions on the delivery of [meat by-products] from all companies operating in the EU," said a statement published on Rosselkhoznadzor's official website.
The watchdog said it had revealed 17 cases of violations of the Customs Union's requirements in by-products from Austria, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Poland.
According to the statement, the products contained pathogenic microorganisms and heavy metals, as well as traces of the antibiotic chloramphenicol, which is banned from use in the European Union.
Rosselkhoznadzor noted that the import of frozen beef trimmings from the EU was temporarily stopped on June 27 for the same reasons.
On August 7, Moscow imposed a ban on the import of certain food products from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia and Norway in response to economic sanctions imposed on Russia over its alleged involvement in the Ukrainian crisis.
