May 15, 2009
Russia softens ban on Spanish pork
Russia has allowed live pig and raw pork imports from all of Spain except the provinces of Barcelona, Seville and Valencia, Russia's animal and plant health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Thursday (May 14).
The ban was lifted after the Spanish veterinary service had informed Rosselkhoznadzor of its organised data regarding the AH1N1 flu virus.
Currently, Russia has banned meat imports from Mexico, Central American and Caribbean states, as well as US states of California, Illinois, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.
A softer ban on imports of live pigs and raw pork is kept for the US states of Arizona, Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, South Carolina and Washington.
The same ban applies to the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and Ontario as well as Britain and the three Spanish provinces.
The spread of AH1N1 flu, commonly known as swine flu, was not caused by pigs and pork, but countries reacted to the name.
