30 Jul 2010 21:09

Russia asks Belarus, Kazakhstan to bar Moldovan, Georgian wine, mineral water from entering Russia

MOSCOW. July 30 (Interfax) - Russia has asked Belarus and Kazakhstan, as its partners within the Customs Union, to take measures to bar wine and mineral water from Moldova and Georgia from entering Russian territory.

"Taking into account the laws of the Russian-Kazakh-Belarusian Customs Union, we have informed our partners, in line with regulations that have been adopted, that the use of a number of products is restricted in our country. We asked them to take measures to bar Moldovan and Georgian wines and mineral waters from entering Russian territory," Gennady Onishchenko, the chief of the Russian consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor and chief public health official, told Interfax on Friday.

"This does not mean that we are imposing our will [on Belarus and Kazakhstan] and are restricting their rights to use these products, but we are entitled to demand that they take exhaustive measures so as not to allow these products to get into the Russian territory. We have exercised this right," Onishchenko said.