RUSSIA: Moscow bans import of vegetables from European Union in E.Coli scare

Record ID: 560427

  • Title: RUSSIA: Moscow bans import of vegetables from European Union in E.Coli scare
  • Date: 3rd June 2011
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JUNE 2, 2011) (REUTERS) FRUIT AND VEGETABLE STALL ON STREET CORNER VARIOUS OF CUCUMBERS AND TOMATOES ON DISPLAY STALL HOLDER ARRANGING VEGETABLES FOR SALE VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF RUSSIAN AGRICULTURE MINISTRY (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ALEXEI ALEKSEYENKO REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERAL AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, SAYING : " In Russia the Chief Inspector of the Consumer Protection Agency, Mr. (Gennady) Onishchenko, the head of the Russian the Consumer Protection Agency has established a temporary ban on the import of foodstuffs from the whole of the European Union." ALEKSEYENKO HOLDING HIS BRIEFCASE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ALEXEI ALEKSEYENKO REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERAL AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, SAYING : "We doubt that it was the pathogenic bacteria which infected people via cucumbers. We have serious doubts about this, so we asked the EU and specifically the responsible agencies in Spain and Germany, to give us the results of their investigations so that we can take the appropriate steps and take the right measures." ALEKSEYENKO WITH REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ALEXEI ALEKSEYENKO REPRESENTATIVE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERAL AGRICULTURE MINISTRY, SAYING : "It affects international business badly, not just Russian business, because once there are restrictions imposed it affects both the producer and the importer." ALEKSEYENKO WITH REPORTER MOSCOW, RUSSIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) EXTERIORS OF RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JUNE 2, 2011) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (RU24 - NO ACCESS RUSSIA) (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN ALEXANDER LUKASHEVICH SAYING : "It's a serious precedent and obviously any government would want to protect its market so that it wouldn't get these kind of 'presents', these cucumbers." MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JUNE 2, 2011) (REUTERS) FRUIT AND VEGETABLE STALL ON STREET CORNER CUCUMBERS AND TOMATOES ON SALE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) MOSCOW RESIDENT JULIA SAYING: "You know, my parents live in Penza and my mum grows her own cucumbers, her own tomatoes. I'm so glad I'm off on holiday soon and I'll be eating our own cucumbers!" VARIOUS OF WOMAN BUYING APRICOTS AT STALL FRUIT AND VEGETABLE STALL IN STREET
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: International Relations,Health
  • Reuters ID: LVA4IFYBBTF1MWG8K33HJR42K0KB
  • Story Text: Russia banned imports of fresh vegetables from the European Union on Thursday (June 2), accusing officials in Brussels of sowing chaos by failing to give proper information about a deadly E.coli outbreak centred in Germany.
    The European Commission branded the move "disproportionate", but was struggling to cope with the outbreak, which has killed 17 people and made more than 1,500 others ill.
    "In Russia the Chief Inspector of the Consumer Protection Agency, Mr. Onishchenko, the head of the Russian the Consumer Protection Agency has established a temporary ban on the import of foodstuffs from the whole of the European Union," confirmed Alexei Alekseyenko of the Russian Agriculture Ministry.
    The source of the infection has baffled health officials but Russia extended a ban on German and Spanish fresh vegetables to cover the whole European Union because it said officials had failed to give Moscow proper information on the situation.
    "We doubt that it was the pathogenic bacteria which infected people via cucumbers. We have serious doubts about this, so we asked the EU and specifically the responsible agencies in Spain and Germany, to give us the results of their investigations so that we can take the appropriate steps and take the right measures," added Alekseyenko.
    The European Commission said it is looking at what it could do about the impact on producers, but was clearly struggling to cope with the scale of the situation.
    Alekseyenko said restrictions would be hard for both EU producers and Russian businesses.
    "It affects international business badly, not just Russian business, because once there are restrictions imposed it affects both the producer and the importer," he said.
    Shops in Moscow prepared to dump EU vegetables and consumers expressed a mixture of scorn and pride at the ban, while the foreign ministry quipped that Russian cucumbers were best.
    "It's a serious precedent and obviously any government would want to protect its market so that it wouldn't get these kind of 'presents', these cucumbers," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.
    Moscow shoppers said they preferred home-grown produce to imports from the EU - even before the scare.
    "You know, my parents live in Penza and my mum grows her own cucumbers, her own tomatoes. I'm so glad I'm off on holiday soon and I'll be eating our own cucumbers!", said Yulia, buying her produce at one of Moscow's many street fruit and vegetable stalls.
    The ban comes a week before Russia, whose leaders have often accused Europe and the United States of preaching to Russia and trying to force their rules on the vast nation, hosts EU leaders at a summit in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.
    Russia is under pressure from Europe and other trade partners to announce how it will end protectionist measures, including meat import restrictions, as part of its push to join the World Trade Organisation this year after an 18-year effort.
    European Union countries exported 594 million euros ($853 million) worth of vegetables to Russia last year while EU imports of vegetables from Russia were just 29 million euros, EU data show. It was not clear what proportion of that was raw.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register