July 19, 2010

Russia puts temporary ban on Finnish dairy, meat

Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Oversight has introduced a temporary ban on dairy and meat imports from 14 Finnish facilities, the regulator said Friday (July 16).

Saying no other provisions, the regulator said that the ban is expected to take effect on July 23.

The veterinary regulator has banned imports from several facilities of Finnish dairy producers Valio, Ingman Ice Cream, and Hameenlinnan Osuusmeijeri, and meat producers Atria, HK Ruokatalo, Snellman, and Saarioinen.

The watchdog's spokesman, Alexei Alekseyenko, said that the service had uncovered various violations at the Finnish producers. "For instance, at some Finnish dairy producers milk is sent for processing during an average of 50 hours, while under Russian regulation it should be done during 24 hours," said Alekseyenko.