Russia mulls fully lifting EU vegetable ban given lack of outbreaks

MOSCOW, Jul 25 (PRIME) — Russias Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare is ready to consider fully lifting a ban on vegetable imports from the E.U. as the number of registered outbreaks of E.coli has drastically reduced in recent weeks, the services Director Gennady Onishchenko said July 24, RIA Novosti reported.

The decision could be made within a week, Onishchenko said, adding that seven countries, including Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia, and Germany, were still banned from vegetables supplies to Russia.

As soon as all E.U. countries are allowed to import vegetables to Russia, those supplies are still to be carried out with certain restrictions, he said without elaborating.

The service recently lifted a ban on vegetable imports from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Greece, the Czech Republic, Poland, France, Hungary, and Italy. E.U. producers are now required to provide a special certificate guaranteeing the safety of their products.

Russian authorities introduced the ban on vegetable imports from the E.U. on June 2 following multiple outbreaks of a new strain of E. coli.

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