EU requests withdrawal of Russian ban on imports of European vegetables

EU requests withdrawal of Russian ban on imports of European vegetables

2011-06-03 05:13:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

BRUSSELS (BNO NEWS) -- The European Commission on Thursday requested the immediate withdrawal of the Russian ban on all EU vegetable exports issued earlier this day.

The Commission considered the Russian measure as disproportionate as the latest tests in Spain and Germany showed that the EU vegetables are not responsible for the outbreak of the Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia Coli (EHEC) bacteria in Germany.

On Thursday, Russia banned the import of fresh vegetables for the 27 EU Member States due to the new, never before seen strain of E. coli that has caused the death of 18 people so far.

The measure was imposed by Russia's sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor after considering that the E. coli outbreak was out of control after at least 1,614 people have been infected mostly in Germany but also in the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and other European countries.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said that the Russian government will give the European Commission an explanation for its protective measure as the "precedent is very serious."

Initially, it was suspected that Spanish cucumbers carried the bacteria but this theory was ruled out by the EU on Wednesday. The Commission then removed its own alert notification on Spanish cucumbers from the Rapid Alert System on Food and Feed (RASFF)

"The sources of the infection and transfer factors have not been established," said Russian sanitary chief Gennady Onishchenko. "The situation has worsened dramatically recently so we had to assume these very unpopular measures."

In the meantime, Spain's fruit and vegetable exporters reportedly lost more than €200 million ($290 million). The EU vowed to keep all of its trading partners, including Russia, fully informed about all developments on the outbreak.

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