MOSCOW, July 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia can, in theory, suspend the imports of Ukrainian foodstuffs after the ratification of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement (AA), a senior official at the agricultural watchdog service Rosselkhoznadzor said Wednesday.

“We’ll yet have to see how these supplies will be done because the EU has a largely differing legislation,” he said.

Rosselkhoznadzor has offered the Ukrainian veterinary service to hold consultations shortly on transition of the Customs Union requirements for legal acceptance of imports from Europe.

“We hope there’ll be no time gap (during the transition to new requirements),” Alexeyenko said.

Russia has warned Ukraine more than once that it will be compelled to take steps against Ukrainian imports after that country signs the AA with the EU, as the document stipulates its own prevalence over all other contractual obligations Ukraine may have with third parties, including the Eurasian Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Russian governmental agencies have said many a time the technical regulations that Ukraine will be expected to assimilate under provisions of the AA do not match in many cases the Customs Union regulations and there are no mechanism for lifting these contradictions.