Moscow, June 2 (Interfax) - Russia is banning meat and other livestock product imports from 89 manufacturers in three Brazilian states for not meeting Russian standards on June 15, Alexei Alexeyenko, spokesman for Russian food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor, told Interfax.
Meat from 23 enterprises in the state of Mato Gross, 16 of them beef producers; 27 in Rio Grande do Sul, 10 of them poultry producers; and 39 in Parana, 15 of them poultry and 11 – pork producers.
A total of 236 Brazilian farms were entitled to export meat to Russia prior to the ban.
"Essentially, the ban is a vote of no-confidence in the vet services of these states, which were unable to introduce a system for fulfilling Customs Union requirements," Alexeyenko said.
Brazil, one of Russia’s top meat suppliers, accounted for 35% of Russia’s pork imports (215,000 tonnes), 45% of its beef (269,000 tonnes) and 19% of its poultry (121,000 tonnes) imports in 2010.
Alexeyenko said inspections by Russian veterinary specialists this year had revealed a number of flaws.
Control over compliance with safety standards had deteriorated considerably, he said.
The inspections had revealed some systemic shortcomings, and monitoring for the presence of mercury, pesticides, dioxins and radio-nuclides has not been carried out for three years.
More than 260 consignments of meat were found not to meet Russian requirements, and meat was found to be contaminated by listeria, salmonella and coliform bacteria and found to contain tetracycline antibiotics.
Alexeyenko said the situation had been discussed at technical meetings between specialists from both countries and at the level of veterinary service chiefs.
"But we haven’t received safety guarantees for products from these states," he said.
Meat products from other Brazilian states will continue as usual, he said.
