Russia to lift EU vegetable import ban under guarantees

Moscow will lift its ban on fresh vegetable imports from the European Union (EU) after receiving safety guarantees, said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the summit with the EU here on Friday.


Russia is ready to resume vegetable imports if EU agencies give safety guarantees, he told a news conference, adding that specialists from the two sides will draft an appropriate food safety certification over EU vegetable soon.


"We discussed a mechanism of restarting deliveries of European vegetables to the Russian market. We are ready to resume such deliveries if EU's services in charge of these issues offer guarantees," Medvedev said.


At the same news conference, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said "we are happy that we have agreed that the ban on vegetables from the European Union will be lifted."


He added that the EU will send a form for issuing such certificates to Russia in the next few days.


Russia banned last week the import of all fresh vegetables from all EU member states because of an outbreak of the E.coli bacteria.


EU officials warned that the ban contradicts principles of the World Trade Organization, which Russia hopes to join.
(Source:http://news.xinhuanet.com)