Russia’s chief veterinarian Mikhail Kravchuk remained firm on the European meat ban earlier this week, stating that imports may only resume 21 days after the last outbreak of foot and mouth is recorded, and then only on a case by case basis.


Kravchuk explained that Russian scientists believed that 21 days is a safe limit because it is the incubation period for the disease. He added, however that imports from Britain would take longer to be cleared than goods from other countries such as France, Ireland and the Netherlands.


Officials was responding in a meeting last Friday to criticism from food industry representatives that Russia is failing to abide by the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health, which state that the incubation period for the disease is only two weeks. The guidelines also state that fish, poultry and cheese are incapable of transmitting foot and mouth, but Russia includes these among the blanket ban on imports.


Gilbert Dubois, deputy head of an EU delegation to Moscow, commented: “We find this ban excessive.”


Kravchuk however maintained that it was essential however because of the free movement of goods across Europe.

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