Russia bans import of chilled meat from Lithuania
Russian veterinary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said the ban, introduced in mid-July, was imposed after inspections revealed that Lithuanian meat processing plants were re-exporting Latvian and Polish meat to the Customs Union.
The department also stressed that laboratory studies of Lithuanian meat products had repeatedly detected residues of banned and harmful substances.
Head of the State Food and Veterinary Service of Lithuania, Jonas Milius, reported that in response to the ban, his department had already created two programmes aimed at restoring exports to Russia as soon as possible.
“On Thursday, July 18, we will present them [Russian veterinary specialists] with two plans of measures to be adopted by our businesses wishing to trade on the Russian market. Hopefully our Russian colleagues will evaluate them quickly,” he said.
According to Milius, the Latvian and Polish meat was found in one of the country’s largest meat processing companies - Agrovet. He added that the State Food and Veterinary Service of Lithuania had already stopped exports of meat products from another company, Krekenavos agrofirma, to Russia because it did not meet the required standards. However, both companies continue to sell meat products in Lituania.
Russia recently imposed a similar ban on meat imports from Greece, which also took effect in mid-July. Experts have pointed out that in the case of these two countries, the situation is quite similar, with a ban introduced due to meat companies re-exporting meat purchased in other countries to Russia.
“Without the special note on the package of production, this is prohibited. Businesses in the EU also often buy meat from countries that are banned to export to Russia and that is absolutely unacceptable,” said a Rosselkhoznadzor spokesperson.
