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Russia, which is banning imports of live cattle from EU countries from March 20, may also ban imports of European pork.

Russian food safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor has told its European colleagues that pork supplies need to be discussed because of "the continued breach of Russian veterinary and sanitary standards, the service told Interfax. Rosselkhoznadzor invited its European colleagues to Moscow next week to explain the situation surrounding imports of live cattle and meat.

"Despite our repeated requests to sort out supply controls, the breaches continue so there could be a ban on pork imports," the service said. Monitoring of pork from EU countries has shown residues of harmful substances and bacteria. Often the data shown on veterinary certificates and packaging is different.

"In essence the matter concerns a lack of control over products sent to Russia and our service ends up carrying out the work that should be carried out by the EU veterinary service," Rosselkhoznadzor Chairman Sergei Dankvert told Interfax.

Previously stronger control on the border from the Russian service could be attributed to insufficient production in Russia, but domestic pork production is growing, he said. "And we do not intend to use additional veterinary efforts to carry out the functions of others, it is easier to bank imports if exporting countries do not meet Russian standards," Dankvert said.

The Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR) reported that Russia imported 80,000 tonnes of pigs in live weight in 2011, compared to 51,000 tonnes in 2010. "Almost all this came from EU countries," IKAR expert Mikhail Grigoryev said.

Imports of large and small livestock were small, he said.

Pork imports amounted to 648,000 tonnes in 2011, more than half of which (340,000 tonnes) came from EU countries. Germany was the biggest pork exporter (98,000 tonnes), followed by Denmark (79,600 tonnes), Spain (51,200) and France (36,000 tonnes).

If imports of European pork are banned, more pork will be imported from Canada and the United States, Grigoryev said. Prices could go up for Russian pork, which would be good for domestic producers.

Earlier, Brazil was one of the biggest suppliers of pork, he said. Exports from these countries are currently restricted due to veterinary problems.