Russian consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor extended its ban on cheese supplies from Ukrainian producers over their failure to meet Russian food standards, service head Gennady Onishchenko said on Monday.
The service extended the ban imposed in mid-February on products of the Bashtansky, Lozovsky and Khmelnytskyi cheese-making plants and Bel Shostka Ukrainy firm. Onishchenko said that the service suspended sales in Russia of over 30 tons of Ukrainian cheese made at these four plants.
In mid-February, Rospotrebnadzor imposed a ban on Prometei products, the Peryatinsky cheese-making plant and Gadyachsyr for violations of Russian milk and milk product standards. The Ukrainian producers said their products met all necessary requirements.
Ukrainian cheese takes 8.5 percent of the Russian market with supplies at 61,000 tons. Export flow to Russia has been increasing in recent years.
