Russia’s sanitary watchdog Rospotrebnadzor has temporarily banned the import of fresh vegetables from the European Union, sanitary chief Gennady Onishchenko told RIA Novosti.
“We are imposing a ban due to the fact that during a month's time the situation has not been brought under control," Onishchenko said. "The sources of the infection and transfer factors have not been established.
The situation has seriously deteriorated recently, hence we had to assume these very unpopular measures".
The decision was preceded by a so-called cucumber scandal. Media report so far 16 deaths due to a dangerous Escherichia coli outbreak in Europe. At least 1,400 people in northern Germany have been affected by the infection. Last week, German authorities made a statement identifying cucumbers imported from Spain as the main source of infection. As a result, many European companies have completely withdrawn or temporarily cancelled all the previous agreements on fruit and vegetables export from Spain.
