MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Fipronil-contaminated chicken eggs produced in the European Union could not have been imported to Russia, as the country's market is fully supplied by domestic farmers and EU producers have no market access in Russia, the country's food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor spokeswoman Yulia Melano told Sputnik Friday.
"Eggs from the European Union don't have access to the Russian market, due to the absence of [EU] producers authorized for exporting [eggs] to Russia. The ban on egg imports has nothing to do with the food embargo, the situation used to be the same before," Melano said.
She added that Russia did not authorize EU agricultural companies to sell eggs to the country as market demand for the product is fully met by domestic farmers.
"It is slightly possible that such eggs can enter the country through the EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union], but we have never encountered attempts to illegally import such products on the borders with Kazakhstan and Belarus," Melano said.
