Russian watchdog says no politics in ban on Lithuanian milk

MOSCOW. August 13. KAZINFORM. Decision of the Russian Federal Service of Phytosanitary Inspection and Veterinary Supervision /Rosselkhoznadzor/ to impose a provisional ban on imports of dairy produce from four Lithuanian producers has no political underpinning, the press secretary of the service, Alexei Alekseyenko said Thursday; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

The ban is purely technical in character, he said.

"In the light of it, we hope that the situation around the exports of dairy products from Lithuania will be settled promptly," Alekseyenko said.

The problem was caused by tetracycline, an antibiotic broadly used in the world but prohibited in Russia. Its traces were found butter, curdles and sour cream of Lithuanian origin; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com for full version.