Russian Agricultural Watchdog Not Ruling Out New Bans on Belarusian Products

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor may limit the import of other categories of Belarusian animal products after a respective ban on beef supplies had been imposed, Rosselkhoznadzor deputy head Nikolay Vlasov said Friday.

"Yes. That corresponds to the facts," Vlasov said, answering a question on whether or not new restrictions may be introduced on the supply of goods from Belarus due to the presence of Listeria bacteria.

Rosselkhoznadzor identifies these bacteria in the production of Belarus' companies and immediately takes action, Vlasov added.

Also on Friday, Rosselkhoznadzor spokeswoman Yulia Melano noted that new restrictions on other Belarusian animal products could not be ruled out, as they were applied against specific manufacturers in case any violations were found.

After in 2014 Moscow imposed embargo on EU agricultural production in response to Brussels' anti-Russian sanctions, Russian foodstuff watchdog enhanced control over imports from Belarus, as numerous illicit supplies from the EU disguised as Belarusian production were stopped at the Russian border.

Earlier this month, Rosselkhoznadzor introduced temporary restrictions on import of beef and some other foodstuffs from Belarus over poor sanitary condition of produce and alleged re-export from Ukraine and EU countries.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in turn, proposed launching criminal proceedings against head of Rosselkhoznadzor Sergey Dankvert for "hindering" supplies of Belarusian foodstuffs to Russia. The Russian Presidential Press Office said Russia was perplexed over the Belarusian president’s proposal. Rosselkhoznadzor considers the restrictions in line with international trade rules.