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Russia consumer rights watchdog bans Lithuanian dairy products import

Lithuania has no official information about the ban, according to Lithuanian Head of the state veterinary and food service Jonas Milius

Photo ITAR-TASS/Pavel Golovkin

Photo ITAR-TASS/Pavel Golovkin

MOSCOW, October 7 (Itar-Tass) - Russia’s Federal Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control Service (Rospotrebnadzor) has banned the import of dairy products from Lithuania, the agency head, Russia’s chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko told Itar-Tass. According to him, the documents were signed by Rospotrebnadzor on October 6 and sent to the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

Onishchenko told Itar-Tass earlier that there had been complaints about the quality and safety of Lithuanian dairy products, including the products sold under the brand name SVALIJA.

Lithuanian Head of the state veterinary and food service Jonas Milius told journalists on Monday that Lithuania has no official information about the ban on dairy products import to Russia.

"Neither any agency nor enterprise in Lithuania received any documents on this issue", he said. According to the head of veterinary services, until recently contacts with Russian colleagues were held in the framework of the established procedures and were of businesslike character. "When there were any issues with quality, we were notified about it and could take relevant measures in this regard," Milius said. He described the present situation as spreading of rumors. "There hasn’t been anything similar in the history of our relationship," Milius noted.

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