Russia Agrees to Lift European Vegetable Ban ‘Without Delay’
Russia will lift its ban on imports of fresh vegetables from the European Union after a deadly outbreak of E. coli, President Dmitry Medvedev said after talks with his EU counterparts.
The two sides agreed the ban will be lifted “without delay” and as soon as they put in place a certification system, EU Commission President Jose Barroso told reporters in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod today.
Russia suspended imports of German and Spanish tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers on May 30 after an E. coli outbreak led to the deaths of at least 27 people. The ban was extended to all fresh vegetables from the EU on June 2. Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said June 8 the ban would remain in force until the EU gave complete information about the outbreak’s origin.
The German O104 E. coli strain produces a toxin that attacks the kidneys and blood vessels. Since May 2, 674 people have developed the life-threatening complication in the EU, and an additional 1,755 have been stricken with diarrhea, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said June 7.
As much as 80 percent of vegetables are being destroyed in some areas because there is no market for them, Copa-Cogeca, a farm lobby group based in Brussels, said June 7 in a report. EU food producers are losing as much as 400 million euros a week from the drop in demand, it said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lyubov Pronina in Nizhny Novgorod via Moscow office at lpronina@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net
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