Full blockade: Russia banned import of 1,300 more Belarusian goods
55- 9.06.2009, 11:48
The Russian Federal Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control Service is going to ban import of 800 more names of Belarusian dairy products in addition to the 500 banned earlier.
“As additional research has found, technical for milk and milk products, following milk and milk products technical regulations, re-drawing up documents at the territory of Smolensk and Bryansk region where made with apparent violation of such kind of procedures,” RIA Novosti was informed by Gennady Onishchenko, chief sanitary officer of Russia.
As said by him, as a result 406 hygiene certificates issued and re-executed for milk products in Bryansk region for Belarusian products, are to be withdrawn. 107 applications of Russian suppliers in Bryansk region for Belarusian goods are to face the same situation.
As for Smolensk region, Gennady Onishchenko, said that deliveries made under 198 issued permits, are to be suspended, and 92 more documents on the waiting list are to be withdrawn.
On June 6 the head of the Russian Federal Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control Service banned the import of 500 types of milk product from Belarus. It was said that said, the Belarusian producers hadn’t obtained approvals required by Russia’s new regulations enacted as far back as December 2008.
Gennady Onishchenko also stated that talks with Belarus on “milk” problem are hardly possible: “As for talks: “Rospotrebnadzor is forced to withdraw its previously voiced request for negotiations with Belarus, since some of its officials view the problem as 'farfetched.' We find it incautious to bother our Belarusian colleagues over farfetched problems and apologize for the inconvenience”.
On June 5 Russian Prime minister Vladimir Putin stated necessity to create single business terms for subsidizing agriculture products manufacturers in Russia and Belarus. As said by him, subsidies given by Belarus to its dairy manufacturers reach 24%, while in Russia they make only about 3%.
The Premier said he touched upon this issue in contacts with Belarusian partners, and they expressed readiness to discuss subsidies issue in negotiations. V. Putin underlined however: “I know very well in which regime these approaches are being worked out by our colleague. It may be long, so I have given an order to customs service to formulate offers which would allow us to create necessary conditions for carrying out this negotiations process”.
On June 1 in an interview to major Russian media A. Lukashenka accused Russia of limiting deliveries of Belarusian food products, which are cheap because of state subsidies to the agricultural industry.
