Russia threatens to halt meat and milk supplies from Belarus

Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia's agricultural watchdog, does not rule out the possibility of banning supplies of animal products from Belarus.

“Harmful elements in products of a number of enterprises” can be the formal reason, Interfax news agency reports.

“We will propose our Belarusian colleagues to have talks next week to discuss the results of monitoring Belarusian products for 9 months in the light of the need to take some measures, also those relating to restrictions of deliveries,” Rosselkhoznadzor's chief Sergei Dankvert said.

According to him, violations were found in dairy products of the companies Babushkina Krynka (tetracycline antibiotics, mesophilic aerobic and facultative anaerobic microorganisms), Savushkin Produkt (coliform bacteria), Biokom (high bacteria level).

“The active monitoring goes on. More results are likely to appear soon,” he said.

Sergei Dankvert says products of meat processing factories of Babruisk, Biaroza, Brest and Mahilou, Vitebsk Poultry Plant, Belovezhskie Delikatesy meat processing plant, Dzerzhinsky agricultural company and a number of other companies are suspected of not complying with requirements.

Sergei Dankvert also said a possibility of joint work of Russian and Belarusian specialists on the border of the Customs Union would be discussed at the talks.

“Taking into account the facts of supplies of banned EU products through Belarus, we proposed our Belarusian colleagues to control the outer border of the Customs Union [together], but they have been refusing to do it for two weeks,” Rosselkhoznadzor's chief said.