MOSCOW, June 16 (RIA Novosti) - A delegation from Belarus is ready for talks on dairy exports to Russia, and expects them to go ahead despite reports to the contrary, an official in the Belarusian embassy in Moscow said on Tuesday.
Russia's top sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko said earlier that negotiations with Belarus have been suspended as public comments made by Belarusian officials contradicted agreements reached with Minsk's delegation in Moscow.
"The report is incorrect, this is an official delegation that is authorized to conduct negotiations by the Belarusian government, and it has all the necessary credentials," the official said, adding that his country was "ready and willing" to hold further talks.
Earlier in June, Russia banned imports of more than 1,000 types of dairy products from Belarus, saying producers in the ex-Soviet republic had failed to comply with new Russian standards.
Russia introduced new technical regulations last year stipulating a variety of product-safety, terminology, packaging and labeling standards for milk and dairy-products. However, Belarus has not yet complied with the new regulations.
On Monday Onishchenko said the return of Belarusian dairy products to the Russian market would take a significant amount of time.
