Russia will allow the imports of some types of vegetables from some EU countries after it receives guarantees from Brussels that they are safe, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
"We have discussed a mechanism for resuming European vegetable supplies to the Russian market," Medvedev said during a news conference after a EU-Russia summit in Nizhny Novgorod.
"We are ready to resume such supplies under guarantees of competent European agencies, this is absolutely certain," he said.
Moscow imposed a blanket ban on all imports of fresh vegetables from the EU last week after an E. coli outbreak that has led to the deaths of 26 people.
Russia is the EU's largest export market for vegetables. According to the Russian Agriculture Ministry, the European Union supplied 620,000 tons of vegetables to Russia last year, 26 percent of all vegetable imports.
Russian and EU specialists will coordinate a certification procedure proving that vegetables to be shipped to Russia are safe, Medvedev said.
The European Union hailed Russia's decision to resume vegetables imports. Documents proving the safety of the vegetables will be sent to Russia on Friday or Saturday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
“We are satisfied with the agreements reached during the summit,” said Denis Daiilidis, the EU delegation to Russia’s PR chief.
“We were not expecting this issue, which we consider technical, to be solved during the summit,” he said. “It was very important for us to receive political support, to see political will.”
The participants in the Russia-EU summit ate vegetables of "unknown origin" during breakfast and dinner despite the Russian ban on vegetables import from European Union countries, Medvedev said.
"Yes, we ate vegetables both yesterday [during a informal dinner] and today [at a working breakfast]," Medvedev said.
"Tomatoes, and others, were on the menu. From where, I don't know, but let's wait and see," he joked.
EU Moscow envoy Fernando Valenzuela said last week the Russian ban went against the rules of the World Trade Organization, which Russia wants to join. But Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Russia would not "poison" its people for the sake of the WTO.
NIZHNY NOVGOROD, June 10 (RIA Novosti)
