Head of Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights Onishchenko refused to have “milk” talks with Minsk

The Russia’s chief health officer said he cancelled his suggestion to the Belarusian authorities on possible negotiations on resumption of dairy products deliveries from Belarus to Russia.

“I cancel my suggestion as absolutely unnecessary for the Belarusian party,” Interfax quotes Gennady Onishchenko.

He made this decision inspired by comments of Belarusian officials, in particular, representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture, who said that Russia’s claims to quality of the Belarusian milk products were farfetched, “Salidarnasts” newspaper writes.

“It’s unclear why the press service of the Russian-Belarusian union state interferes with this process. I don’t understand what respect it (the press service) has to the quality and safety of dairy products,” Onishchenko told Interfax.

The Russia’s chief health officer also noted the reaction of Belarusian officials showed that a suggestion of possible talks on milk was “untimely and unnecessary for Belarus”.

Moreover, he said in an interview to RIA Novosti the Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights planned to impose ban on import of 800 types of Belarusian milk products in addition to a previous ban on import of 500 types.

“An extra probe has showed that the implementation of technical regulations for milk and dairy products and the re-registration of documentation in the Smolensk and Bryansk regions were conducted with evident violations of such procedures,” Onishchenko said. According to him, 406 sanitary and epidemiological conclusions, re-registered for the Bryansk province, were annulled. 107 requests for the Belarusian dairy products, made by Russian suppliers in the Bryansk province, expect the same destiny.